During summer 2021, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) – the global anti-money laundering and terrorist financing oversight body – conducted a public consultation in an effort to enhance its recommendations for countries implementing beneficial ownership registries. The FATF intends to use this public feedback to make amendments to Recommendation 24 – Transparency and Beneficial Ownership of Legal Persons.
Transparency International Canada put forth two submissions, one as a signatory for Transparency International’s global response, and one as part of the ‘End Snow Washing Coalition’ alongside Publish What You Pay Canada and Canadians for Tax Fairness.
In its submissions, Transparency International Canada and partners highlighted several areas of focus for what a national beneficial ownership registry could include, namely:
The overall advantages of a publicly accessible beneficial ownership registry.
The deterring effect publicly accessible registries can have on money laundering and tax evasion globally;
The roles that federal regulators could serve supporting corporate transparency and alleviating burdens placed on corporations and law enforcement;
The benefits for small, medium, and large corporations to access accurate information to better inform business practices;
Strengthen commitments to open data strategies that governments around the world continue to implement;
The global strategy that is currently underway to combat money laundering and tax evasion.
In April 2021, Canada announced that it will create a publicly accessible beneficial ownership registry for federal private corporations in its 2021 federal budget. Transparency International Canada is pleased to work alongside our national and international partners to provide feedback and enhance the global standard for implementing and enhancing robust beneficial ownership registries.
The FATF plans to propose revisions to the text of Recommendation 24 at its October, 2021 meetings.
Please find Transparency International’s submission here.
Please find the ‘End Snow Washing’ Coalition’s submission here.
For inquiries, please contact:
James Cohen
Executive Director, Transparency International Canada
ti-can@transparencycanada.ca
416-488-3939