OTTAWA: Correspondence between Finance Minister Bill Morneau and his British equivalent is highlighting Canada’s poor international record in flushing out the real owners of suspected tax-haven corporations. Philip Hammond, Britain’s Chancellor of the Exchequer, wrote to Morneau on Dec. 22, seeking Canada’s support for exchanges of so-called “beneficial ownership” information — that is, information about who really owns and controls mystery corporations. Last year, Britain pioneered a publicly accessible online registry that contains such ownership data, part of an initiative to help expose tax evaders, terrorist financers and money launderers.
Hammond’s letter was part of his call for reciprocal measures from other countries, including Canada, given that such shady transactions are often conducted offshore. But a Morneau briefing note about the British request acknowledges Canada has little to offer in response, largely because federal and provincial laws governing corporations are ineffective. The statutes “do not require collection of beneficial ownership information,” says the Feb. 1 document, obtained by CBC News under the Access to Information Act. “Federal and provincial corporate registry obligations are self-enforcing and limited mechanisms are in place to ensure information collected is accurate and up-to-date.” Even under the federal Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, “certain limited information on legal entities is collected for domestic tax purposes, but this does not generally extend to beneficial ownership. Means of verifying the accuracy of beneficial ownership information are also limited.”
In the end, Morneau’s Feb. 8 letter in response to Hammond expressed support for Britain’s efforts, but acknowledged that jurisdictional problems continue to hobble Canada’s ability to participate. “As you are aware, jurisdiction over corporate law is shared between federal, provincial and territorial governments in Canada, and trusts fall under provincial and territorial law,” he wrote. “We are working with provincial and territorial counterparts to overcome some of these challenges in addressing beneficial ownership transparency.” The letter, like the briefing note, has key sections blacked out under provisions in the Act that allow the withholding of advice.
