Thank you, Mr. Chair.
My motion reads as follows:
That the Finance Committee study how to combat tax evasion strategies used by some Canadians listed by HSBC's Swiss branch as secret account holders and which was made public by the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists.
Yesterday, Swiss authorities searched the offices of HSBC's Swiss banking subsidiary. The bank committed fraud, allegedly helping to launder terrorism- and drug-related money. We know that the details of some 100,000 secret accounts were leaked and that 1,859 of them belong to Canadian clients.
France undertook an investigation into the matter, and the country's public prosecutor will soon lay charges. Argentina has accused the bank of wrongdoing, and the U.S. has conducted an investigation. In the United Kingdom, a group of MPs will soon open an inquiry into the issue. Belgium, too, is investigating the matter.
The purpose of the motion is to let Canada do its homework and figure out what transpired. The point is to identify the methods and strategies people use to hide money in Swiss accounts. That is not to say that all 1,859 Canadian clients did something illegal. But, in France's case, the data revealed that the money in 94% of the identified accounts had not been reported to the tax man. That raises the question.
I think it would be useful to hear from witnesses who are familiar with these strategies. We could hear from experts. High-ranking officials obtained the list in 2010. The people who come to mind are Guy Bigonesse and Minister Blackburn, who asked the French authorities for the list.
We want to know what happened and how these people managed to hide their money from the Canada Revenue Agency. Why did they do it? What we're trying to do is figure out the strategies they used in order to prevent tax evasion in Canada through other channels. We want to know how it was carried out and what we can do about it.
Through its voluntary disclosures program, the Canada Revenue Agency managed to recover $28 million from 264 people on that list. What's happening with the investigations into the others on the list? Can we find out a little more about that? Did international intermediaries have a hand in managing the accounts of those 264 individuals who owed the unpaid taxes? Were there Canadian intermediaries? We want to get to the bottom of the entire situation.
This scandal is making its way around the world. Other governments are actively pursuing the matter. Canada, however, seems to be completely out of touch, hence the reason for this motion.
Thank you.