International Trade committee  We have about a quarter of a million members, and we're funded primarily through donations of five to ten bucks that come from these members.

International Trade committee  Sure. We're a consumer advocacy organization, a membership organization that's based in Washington, D.C. We've conducted analysis of the U.S. Panama FTA, which is virtually identical to the Canada Panama package.

International Trade committee  I was contacted by this committee.

International Trade committee  One of the concrete demands that Congress has set in front of the Obama administration is that, at a very minimum, we require the completion of a tax information exchange agreement before the FTA is implemented. That is step one, and a majority of House Democrats and also a growi

International Trade committee  Not for Canada. For the U.S., it's one of the top tax havens.

International Trade committee  Sure. Exact estimates are hard to come by because in Panama you're not required to disclose who owns any of the corporations that have offshore corporate registration. Just to illustrate that point, last summer--

International Trade committee  Sure. The first example I used was of course the instance of actually creating a mechanism to apply meaningful sanctions against Panama and transactions with Panama if Panama continues to refuse to clean up its act. Under the FTA, that would be seen as a restriction on transfe

International Trade committee  Yes. The key point is that Panama, for decades, has been resisting any pressure by Canada, or from the U.S., where I'm from, to sign any kind of tax information exchange agreement. They've been dodging this move forward for a very long time. From the U.S. perspective, and certa

International Trade committee  As the witness stated, Panama is not the most important market in the world. It's actually a very tiny market, with a few million people--

International Trade committee  The top 15--

International Trade committee  Sure, but to put that in perspective, this is a very small country representing a very small market. Panama's economy is primarily geared toward the provision of financial services and legal services to global corporations and to drug traffickers. So if you are looking at what

International Trade committee  Thank you to the committee for the invitation to testify on this important issue. Canada has been a global leader in ensuring that greater trade in financial services does not undermine wise prudential regulations. But this admirable record is at risk with the current investment