Toronto
In light of British Columbia’s vulnerability to criminal financial activities in the real estate sector, Transparency International Canada and Canadians For Tax Fairness (C4TF) shared with the B.C government comments on current anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing (AML/ATF) efforts and suggestions on how to improve them. A report was submitted on January 31, to the province’s Expert Panel on Money Laundering in response to an open call for consultations on how to prevent money laundering in the industry.
TI Canada and C4TF consider the lack of beneficial ownership transparency, weakness in corporate registrar roles, limited coverage of the AML/ATF regime in the real estate sector, and insufficient enforcement to be the biggest issues with AML/ATF in B.C. To overcome them, both organizations recommend:
• The creation of a central pan-Canadian publicly accessible beneficial ownership registry;
• Business corporation legislation that ensures pro-active enforcement roles for corporate registrars;
• Extending the PCMLTFA and regulations in the real estate sector;
• Review the practices and outcomes of all enforcement bodies with regulatory and criminal powers involved in the real estate sector.
“We think BC is on the right path in creating new systems to bring transparency to beneficial ownership and real estate” said James Cohen,Executive Director of Transparency International Canada, “But the government needs to make sure it establishes strong mechanisms that fill the gaps that criminals and kleptocrats exploit with thorough deterrence and enforcement.”
The Expert Panel on Money Laundering was created by the government ofB.C. to gather, analyze, and develop recommendations of future policies that protect the real estate sector from money laundering.
For media requests, please contact:
James Cohen
ti-can@transparencycanada.ca
416-488-3939