Finance committee  Right now, data validation and verification is, I would say, an emergent technology. It has also been raised as an issue of concern among the countries that are implementing publicly accessible registries. When the U.K. first implemented the Companies House registry in 2016, one of the biggest criticisms was that the data was not verified.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Blaikie. First of all, what we think would be the immediate next step is for stakeholder consultations to occur with industry, civil society, journalists and international civil society. These consultations can be stretched out over the summer, and they should be conducted in a very transparent manner.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chambers. Yes. The registry must be publicly accessible, full stop. All other G7 countries [Technical difficulty—Editor]. You even have fragile states, globally, that are [Technical difficulty—Editor] publicly accessible registries. For Canada not to have a publicly accessible registry, [Technical difficulty—Editor] it would be a very limited registry [Technical difficulty—Editor] as part of the registry design being put forward.

Finance committee  Absolutely. A beneficial ownership registry that is publicly accessible would deter the proceeds of crime from entering Canada. This is really important, because about $45 billion up to $100 billion is laundered through shell companies and shell properties and a variety of other means, each year.

Finance committee  Thank you very much, Mr. Chair and House finance committee members. Thank you for inviting me to speak today. I might have connection difficulties. If I am lagging, please let me know, and I will turn off my screen. My name is Sasha Caldera, and I am the beneficial ownership transparency campaign manager at Publish What You Pay Canada.