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The B.C. government is slowly implementing changes to combat money laundering and the federal government is moving even more slowly.

Money laundering has been a hot-button issue in B.C., with far-reaching implications for the economy and trust in institutions, but has also gained attention nationally.

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By next spring, the B.C. government expects to have in place a beneficial property ownership registry with public access, a key component of planned changes. A new law requires corporations, trusts and partnership that own property to disclose their beneficial, or true, owners. If they do not, they face heavy penalties — up to $100,000 or 15 per cent of the property’s assessed value.

Next year, measures to increase the transparency of corporate ownership, more generally, will also kick in. It will require companies to keep records of true owners and those with direct or indirect control. That information will not be made public but will be available to law enforcement agencies.