Finance committee  I can't confirm what was in that briefing note.

Finance committee  I don't have knowledge around the discussion around mortgage fraud in the context of the RBC and HSBC—

Finance committee  We have just started. It was just launched a couple of weeks ago, so I think it's early days at this point with regard to determining what the effectiveness is. Certainly, the policy decision to have Corporations Canada do this was accompanied by funds to increase its capacity to assess this information and enforce it.

Finance committee  I'm happy to speak on that. We think the Cullen commission was an important milestone for the regime. Recognizing that the focus was on the provincial regime, we certainly took note of the recommendations, as they involved the broader federal regime. In terms of the creation of a real property registry, that issue is a bit complicated by the fact that real estate and property lie more within the provincial remit.

Finance committee  Financial institutions, including banks, have certain obligations. One of their obligations is to report any suspicious transaction to FINTRAC, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. Then, if FINTRAC thinks the information could be useful in an investigation, it forwards it to the provincial police service concerned or to the RCMP.

Finance committee  If the institution has doubts about the legitimacy of a transaction, then, in theory, it must report it to FINTRAC. I encourage you, in your study of the revision of the act, to have representatives of FINTRAC testify. I think they could provide the committee with some very useful information.

Finance committee  In fact, the Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act is aimed at fraud detection, not restitution practices. This aspect is more in the nature of consumer protection. I can't answer your question because I don't have the figures to back me up on this point. I think the Financial Consumer Agency of Canada, the FCAC, would be in a better position than me to give you that information.

Finance committee  I think that is a question that is worth discussing. We would certainly like to know the committee's opinion on that subject. As I said, that seems to be something that relates more to consumer protection. The anti-money laundering regime focuses more on detecting crimes at reporting enterprises and entities.

Finance committee  Sure. I'm happy to. I'll start by talking about benefits more broadly and being a reporting entity under FINTRAC and then maybe turn to my colleagues. They can speak a bit more to the specific changes in the legislation and regulations. The goal of having reporting entities is to ensure they are subjecting the clients they deal with to enhanced due diligence and ensure they are reporting suspicious transactions to FINTRAC.

Finance committee  Thank you for your question. First, the beneficial ownership registry is going to help entities like the Canada Revenue Agency identify these individuals and carry out investigations relating to the use of shell companies in tax havens, as you say. I will be honest with you: tax havens and income tax are not areas in which I have direct knowledge.

Finance committee  Thank you. I'm happy to answer the question. The use of Canadian shell companies to conceal the true ownership of businesses is a real problem. FINTRAC estimates that 70% of money laundering cases in Canada involve a shell corporation. The ability to determine who are the rightful owners of those corporations is important not just for money laundering purposes, but for tax evasion purposes and other purposes as well.

Finance committee  Absent Quebec and British Columbia, I would say that Ontario has started talking about the potential creation of a registry itself. We've had productive conversations with our provincial and territorial partners in that regard. I think it's a question of prioritization among their respective governments as well.

Finance committee  We do have and released in March 2023 some metrics around the operational effectiveness of the regime. It showed that in a 10-year time span, the effectiveness of our ability to prosecute financial crimes has steadily declined and has not been aligned with the risk profile of money laundering in Canada.

Finance committee  I don't have that data with me. We can take that back, though.

Finance committee  That's an area of active discussion at the moment. We've had discussions with our ISED colleagues and with the Canadian Bankers Association. We recognize the importance of moving that forward, so it's under consideration.