The federal Liberals are moving ahead with plans to create an ownership registry after promising to increase transparency about who owns and controls corporations.

Industry Minister Fran莽ois-Philippe Champagne has tabled legislation that would create a corporate beneficial ownership registry.

The prospective registry is expected to have the goal of making it easier to identify owners of corporations who launder money, commit financial crimes or evade taxes.

Prime Minister Justin TrudeauB次元官网网址檚 mandate letter to Champagne after the last federal election included instructions to create such a registry.

The LiberalsB次元官网网址� 2021 budget dedicated $2.1 million over two years B次元官网网址渢o support the implementation of a publicly accessible corporate beneficial ownership registry by 2025.B次元官网网址�

But the LiberalsB次元官网网址� supply-and-confidence agreement with New Democrats, signed a year ago, required a quicker timeline.

In that deal, which sees the NDP supporting the government on key votes in exchange for movement on NDP priorities, the federal government committed to implementing the registry by the end of 2023.

The federal government held public consultations in 2020 with a range of stakeholders B次元官网网址� including law enforcement, tax agencies and industry associations B次元官网网址� and found nearly all agreed with the idea of creating a registry.