Policy-makers have made good strides in examining and improving aspects of the system that present real challenges for insurers. One example is the requirement that institutions identify the beneficial owners of corporations. As you know, the government is working with the provinces in devising a system that would have corporations report their controlling shareholders. We understand there could be sensitive information in such a repository, and unfettered access may not be appropriate. Limited access by authorized financial institutions, however, would avoid the need for each institution to replicate the work of determining beneficial ownership. It would make a better customer experience when applying for our products, as there would be fewer questions to ask and less documentary evidence to produce. This would have a dual benefit of enhancing privacy rights and reducing regulatory burden on every legal entity in Canada.
We also appreciate recent enhancements to identification requirements. Last year, the government responded to industry and introduced greater flexibility in the documents that constitute acceptable forms of identification. Going forward, we support further efforts to expand ID methodologies, such as digital identification.
Over the past couple of years, amendments have also been made to enable FINTRAC to exchange information with more of its federal and provincial partners, such as securities regulators and national intelligence agencies. If this were extended to allow FINTRAC to share information with reporting entities, there would be benefit to industry and to Canadians alike.
In each of these areas, we see real signs of progress, and we encourage Finance, FINTRAC, and OSFI to continue their efforts in identifying and addressing other aspects of the regime that would benefit from streamlining, bearing in mind the primary objective of the act: minimizing the abuse of Canada's financial system by money launderers and terrorists.
Thank you for inviting us today, and we're pleased to answer any questions.