Quebec intends to tighten the belt on companies by forcing them to reveal their true owners, in order to prevent money laundering, tax evasion and the ploy of nominees.
The Minister of Labor, Employment and Social Solidarity, Jean Boulet, presented a bill to this effect on Tuesday in the National Assembly.
If adopted in its current form, the Act aimed primarily at business transparency (Bill 78) would require business owners to disclose their “ultimate beneficiaries” to the Business Register (REQ).
That is to say any entity which holds at least 25% or which owns securities carrying voting rights in a company.
The REQ is an online platform accessible free of charge by all citizens and containing information on businesses. Currently, however, only the names of the directors and main shareholders are entered.
Pleading that it is above all a legislative change with the aim of protecting consumers, Minister Jean Boulet gave the example of an individual who would like to hire an entrepreneur.
“If, by looking for the name of the entrepreneur [dans le REQ], the individual finds there many entities closed after a short deadline, this could alert him to the fact that the entrepreneur is using the scheme of empty shells, ephemeral companies created to avoid any risk of recourse against the entrepreneur ”, he explained.
The government is prepared to extend $ 4.9 million over five years to implement these changes to the REQ.
The tabling of this bill stems from the Panama Papers scandal. A parliamentary committee had therefore looked into the use of tax havens in 2016 and 2017 before tabling its report.
As Minister Jean Boulet clarified on Tuesday, the bill he tabled is part of a global movement “to fight against tax havens, tax evasion, abusive tax avoidance, criminal activities and Corruption”.
“With this bill, Quebec could be seen in a significant way as a lower risk jurisdiction for consumers, investors, financial institutions and all entrepreneurs wanting to do business with a Quebec company,” he added. .
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