Industry committee  Thanks very much. I just want to clarify that I'm a lawyer in a private practice. I provide advice to Publish What You Pay, but I'm actually speaking in a personal capacity today. As you rightly say, you start a business.... Imagine you started as a sole proprietor, and then yo

Industry committee  What this means is that when your business runs into trouble, and maybe you have to shut the business down, creditors just don't get paid.

Industry committee  One of the challenges in the system is that currently there is very little information available about small corporations. There is more information about publicly traded corporations.

Industry committee  Some authors even suggest requiring non-distributing companies, small corporations, to provide audited financial statements, the way big corporations do, but Claire and Publish What You Pay are merely proposing that if you know who the actual owner of the company is, it will help

Industry committee  I'll add a quick point. One of the challenges with a complete opacity of privately held companies is that it's very difficult for law enforcement to detect suspicious transactions. For example, if it's just routine for numbered companies to buy mansions in Vancouver, and hundreds

Industry committee  Yes, that's another example. Typically, the risk with the bearer shares, of course, is that if they're in the hands of, say, organized crime, they're like currency. They can be traded with organized crime groups, and there is no incentive for those who are using them in such a

Industry committee  That's the way I read it, that companies cannot issue new bearer shares—

Industry committee  That's right.

Industry committee  Yes, that's right. The other thing is, of course, that corporations may not even know who possesses them, by their very nature, so you can't expect corporations to—

Industry committee  Exactly.

Industry committee  And they trade them in—

Industry committee  That's correct.

Industry committee  Exactly.

Industry committee  I'll just add something. I have in front of me the Financial Action Task Force recommendations that have been accepted by all FATF countries, including Canada and dozens of others. Recommendation 24 requires that bearer shares not be misused for money laundering or terrorism fina

Industry committee  As I understand it, you're referring to a statutory mandatory review of the CBCA. Speaking for myself, I would say the CBCA is a really critical act, and it's very powerful. As we know, limited liability is a major intervention in a free marketplace, limiting what's available t