 In the late 1940s, the Liberian open registry was formed as the brainchild of Edward Stettinius, who had been Franklin D. Roosevelt's Secretary of State during World War II.Stettinius created a corporate structure that included The Liberia Corporation, a joint-venture with the government of Liberia.The corporation was structured so that one-fourth of its revenue would go to the Liberian government, another 10% went to fund social programs in Liberia, and the remainder returned to Stettinius' corporation.