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Data is a common denominator in tackling money laundering in Canada. Taking aim at the criminal organizations engaging in these illicit activities and threatening public safety is going to require collaboration and commitment from the private sector and all levels of government. While money launderers work across broad regional and global networks and go to great lengths to hide their activities, government enforcement agencies are often hamstrung, because key data elements are housed in silos across a variety of industry, regulatory and government agencies in Canada. A plan to enable the secure and legal sharing of key data is not an insurmountable ask of our business and political leaders, and would become a meaningful tool to ensure the success of the inquiry.

Considering global best practices will support our fight against money laundering. The United Kingdom created an open registry that makes all corporate registry data publicly accessible, and provides the opportunity to analyze the data as a whole, rather than assessing company records individually. But there are also lessons learned; mainly that a data verification process is critically important, which is missing in action within their legislative framework. Verifying data is required for the accuracy of any information reported and maintained within a publicly accessible registry. Global Witness, an anticorruption NGO, completed a study earlier this year of the U.K.’s open registry and found that over 6,700 companies were controlled by a beneficial owner who themselves control over 100 companies, suggesting that these were likely nominees of the true beneficial owners. The lesson here is that if one has something to hide, they will not disclose it and without any way of verifying what is disclosed, then the benefit of any open registry is diminished.