Thank you, Mr. Chair.
Welcome to all our witnesses this afternoon.
Ms. Watson, I was very disturbed to listen to your testimony, because I've been employed in the financial services industry for more than 25 years. I don't know if my colleagues know, but I started in 1984 as an assistant stockbroker and went all the way up into a leadership role on the retail side, working for large firms owned by big banks and independent firms. I was employed in the industry in 2005, and when the story broke on Mount Real, Norshield and Cinar, I was supervising portfolio managers and financial advisers at the time. One of the primary roles and responsibilities I had as a professional registrant with IIROC was to make sure the people I was supervising were doing the right things.
Doing the right things meant that when new accounts were brought to my desk to be reviewed and opened, I had to make sure I knew who that account belonged to. It was removing the corporate veil. When I listened to the testimony today saying that we don't have a public registry to show the owners of some of these shell companies, I can tell you that through IIROC, we were doing that, so perhaps we can work directly with IIROC and the Autorité des marchés financiers in Quebec as a starting point.
With regard to KPMG, Ms. Iacovelli, I know in your testimony you said that you don't advise your clients—wealthy clients or any kinds of clients—to get into tax avoidance schemes, but I look to you for guidance and professional.... What kinds of checks and balances are in place for companies like KPMG when people approach you for tax information to make sure that they are not crossing the line or going beyond the spirit of the law? Are there any checks and balances when you are giving that type of advice to clients?