The public should be able to freely access the names of the people behind the ownership of assets and bank accounts in order to boost transparency and stop secret shell companies being used for criminal activity.

This is the key contention of a host of submissions to Treasury as part of the federal government's plans to increase transparency of the beneficial ownership of companies following the Panama Papers revelations.

"The Panama Papers and other similar leaks provide a wealth of information on how legal entities created in tax havens are used to commit crimes and launder the proceeds," said Transparency International Australia (TIA).

TIA supports the creation of a central register to record beneficial ownership information. It said ​a central register could be maintained by either AUSTRAC or the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC).