Key rules for money laundering put on hold

The COVID-19 pandemic has pushed back the start of some key measures in B.C. to combat money laundering.

A public landowner transparency registry was to go live this spring, but government officials say unforeseen legislative delays caused by the pandemic “may very likely delay” the registry.

And a new law meant to more generally increase transparency of corporate ownership was scheduled to kick last Friday, but it has been postponed until Oct. 1 because of the pandemic. The new law requires 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.

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

It also has gained attention nationally. Postmedia News database that is being updated periodically to track the B.C. and Canadian governments’ progress on implementing more than 120 anti-money-laundering recommendations remains unchanged from December 2019, with 22 completed. The searchable database compiled recommendations from three independent B.C. reports and a federal parliamentary study, delivered between June 2018 and May 2019.

Governments are moving ahead with other anti-money-laundering initiatives, however. B.C. has consulted on making a corporate registry public, an exercise also undertaken by Quebec and Ottawa.

“I certainly hope the momentum isn’t lost,” Transparency International executive director James Cohen said of the potential effect of the pandemic.

In fact, Cohen has been encouraged by Ottawa’s efforts to examine a corporate-ownership public registry. He believes the pandemic underscores the need for more corporate transparency as huge amounts of stimulus money is handed out.

B.C. is also consulting on modernizing mortgage-broker regulations and, for the first time, examining regulating businesses that exchange currency and transfer money internationally.

Consideration of expanding a special money-laundering police force to include real estate will be put off until after B.C.’s Cullen Commission into money laundering delivers findings, B.C. Attorney General spokesman Tim Chu said.