Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, for the opportunity to respond to this question on the establishment of a beneficial ownership registry.
The changes in the BIA are intended to be a first and concrete step toward establishing that registry, so there are things the government is proposing to do immediately to make progress in the near term. This would obviously be the ability for the information to be sent to and held by Corporations Canada. That's the very important first step.
Also, a very important step for Corporations Canada is to be able to hold onto that information and not immediately publish it, subject to the development of privacy and security protocols for the information. We need to make sure that the information is treated appropriately, which will be an intermediate step, and share it in the meantime with appropriate enforcement agencies—FINTRAC or other entities—that would be prescribed by regulation so that there is also that control over the initial distribution.
The remainder of the amendments required to fully establish the public and searchable registry would require some consultation with stakeholders on the specifics of the implementation and the management of certain privacy considerations,. So they will be consulted and the feedback returned as soon as possible.