An independent resource for yachting
Spend their money as if they were watching.
Crew, brokers, managers and suppliers spend other people's money every day. TransparentSea explains where the line is between a fair commission and a hidden kickback, sets out what the law says, and gives anyone with a concern a safe and private way to raise it.
We do not name and shame. We help people with real concerns, and we are here only until the industry can police itself.
Our mission
To end hidden commissions and backhanders in yachting, and to set a standard that everyone can see.
In the countries we cover, asking for or offering an undisclosed commission to someone who handles another person's money is, in general, a crime, whether or not anyone is overcharged. This is what we do about it.
Explain the law
Plain-English guides to what each country says, so nobody can say they did not know.
Set the standard, together
A clear ethical standard, written with the vendors and companies who want to meet it. We educate and set standards. We do not mediate disputes.
Make honesty visible
Vendors who promise no hidden benefits are listed openly, like a preferred-supplier list, so owners and managers can choose them.
Give people a way to report
A private route for anyone who has been asked for a backhander, and a free toolkit for those who want to stop giving them.
Relationships are not the problem. Good suppliers and good brokers should work together for years. The problem is the money that moves secretly between them, because it quietly changes whose interests are served. We have not found a published supplier-conduct standard for the industry, so we are helping to write one in the open.
Learn
A learning pathway on APA, commission, gifts and reporting, written for the people who actually do the spending, with sessions you can run on board.
Start learning →Check the law
France, Italy, Spain, the UK and the US compared, including what happens when a broker in one country deals with a vendor in another. Each page is checked by counsel before it is published.
See the laws →Raise a concern
Send a concern, evidence or a question privately. We reply, advise as far as we can, and with your permission introduce the right lawyers.
Start a private report →The distinction that matters
Commission or kickback?
The same amount of money can be perfectly lawful or a crime. The difference is rarely the amount, and it is almost never whether the price went up. It is whether the person whose money was spent was told, and agreed.
Read the full explanation| Disclosed commission | Kickback | |
|---|---|---|
| Client told? | Yes, in advance, in writing | No, or told after the fact |
| Client agreed? | Yes | No |
| Paid to | The firm, on its books | A person, often privately |
| Affects advice? | No: the client knows to weigh it | Yes: the adviser is now paid by the other side |
| Price higher? | Irrelevant to the test | Irrelevant to the test |
Find your part of the industry
Guidance for the people who spend the money
Crew and captains
Spending an owner's money, and what to do when you are offered something.
Open →Charter and sales brokers
Your duty to the client, and what disclosure really means.
Open →Management companies
Turning a policy on paper into one that works.
Open →Owners and guests
The questions that show you where your money goes.
Open →Suppliers and vendors
Winning business without paying for it twice.
Open →For suppliers
Make the Vendor Promise
A free, public promise: no hidden commissions, kickbacks or benefits. Get the full anti-bribery toolkit, a policy for your country and a badge your customers can verify. Honest suppliers should not lose business to those who pay for orders.
What happens to a concern
You stay in control at every step
Many people have a real concern and no idea how to raise it, or who to trust. We exist to help with exactly that. We are not lawyers and we do not pretend to be.
Start a private reportHow your privacy is protected →- 1
You write it down, privately
Your report is encrypted in your own browser before it leaves your device. Our software records no IP address, sets no cookie and asks for no account. You are given a case key that only you hold.
- 2
We read it. Only we can.
Only TransparentSea can decrypt what you send. We reply into the same private case, which only your key can open.
- 3
With your permission, it is reviewed by a lawyer
Nothing goes beyond us without your say-so. If you agree, a legally qualified lawyer reviews it, in France or the country that matters, before anything else happens.
- 4
With your permission, it goes to the right people
Where you want it, we introduce you to the right legal team or authority, so you are not left to work out how to report on your own.
Why it matters to everyone
Hidden margins are paid for by the whole industry
Every undisclosed margin is money that is not available for wages, for better crew, or for the next charter. When owners and guests feel they are being charged more because it is “yachting”, they spend less, charter less, and the whole industry shrinks. Honest practice is not a cost to the industry. It is its future.
Read why →Temporary by design
We want to close this site
TransparentSea stays open until the associations, brokerages, management companies and suppliers in yachting can show that they police themselves and operate within the law. The day that is true, this site has done its job.
Start here
4 min read
An open letter to everyone who spends other people's money in yachting
We work at the top of the service world. It is time the way we handle our clients' money matched the standing we claim.
4 min read
Commission or kickback? The line, and how to tell which side you are on
The same money can be perfectly lawful or a crime. The difference is almost never the amount, and almost never whether the price went up.
2 min read
Hidden margins cost everyone, including the people who earn them
If owners and guests feel they are paying 'yacht prices', they spend less. That is how the whole industry ends up biting itself in the foot.