By Andy Whiteley

Co-Founder of Wake Up World

Which represents real (de jure) government in Australia?

Which is seen on “government” literature ?

Would you be surprised to find a company with the same name as your country registered with theSecurity and Exchange Commission (SEC) in Washington DC? Well, guess what?! Among those listed as corporate entities by the United States SEC are Israel, Turkey, Italy, Hungary, Sweden,Finland, Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, The Philippines, South Korea, Japan, Jamaica, South Africa,Canada, Australia… and my personal favourite (and I quote) “Her Majesty the Queen in Right of the Province of Alberta as represented by Alberta Investment Management Corp.”

Interesting! So what could all this mean? For the purpose of this article we will follow the example of Australia.

Australia…. the lucky country?

• SEC Entity Name: COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA
• SEC Central Index Key (CIK): 0000805157
• SEC Standard Industrial Code (SIC): 8880 (UNKNOWN)
• SEC Business Address: 1601 MASSACHUSETTS AVE NW WASHINGTON DC 20036
• Fiscal Year End: 0630

Well, that certainly raises some questions!

Why is a company called ‘COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA’ registered in Washington DC? What reason could there be for a country to be registered as a company?

By definition, aren’t corporate and government entities mutually exclusive? And doesn’t government regulate companies?

Why would Australia be registered with the SEC in the United States? And why would it provide a ‘Prospectus’ and annual ‘Economic and Fiscal Outlook’ documents to the SEC? And be subject to SEC regulation?

Why is the Great Seal of Australia a trademark registered with United States Patent and Trademark Office?

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