Federal finance minister Bill Morneau says secret corporate ownership in Canada will soon end with new rules compelling Canadian company owners to reveal themselves in government filings — a public policy move widely viewed as crucial in the battle against tax evasion and money laundering. But he would not commit to making the identities of Canadian corporate owners public.“In order to get at the understanding of who owns what, there’s really no other way to get at this,” Morneau said an interview with the Toronto Star Tuesday, vowing to lead a national initiative that will eventually require actual company owners — or “beneficial” owners — to list themselves in their corporate registrations. “We believe that this is important information to have to understand how people are arranging their affairs and to ensure that we’re not allowing people to inappropriately use corporate structures for tax avoidance.”While public corporate registries in Canada must include a list of directors, it is easy for beneficial owners to retain anonymity by hiding behind figureheads, lawyers and numbered companies.As it stands in Canada, it is possible to register a corporation, open a bank account, send and receive money overseas, all without disclosing your name — the same kind of secrecy offered by traditional tax havens. A Star investigation earlier this year detailed how Canada’s corporate secrecy has been identified internationally by an industry of tax avoidance experts who now sell this country as a safe place to hide their wealth, free from prying eyes. On dozens of global websites, the Canadian flag is used to entice foreigners seeking anonymous companies fronted by nominee directors that can be set up overnight and used to hide wealth without the stigma that comes with traditional tax havens — a service called “snowashing.” Even the governments who collect corpor ...
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