Feds to crackdown on white-collar crime — a second attempt at earlier failed promise

Finance Minister François-Philippe Champagne after meeting with G7 counterparts announced a “call to action” on financial crime — making no mention of the Liberals’ broken 2021 promise to do the same. Former Prime Minister Justin Trudeau in 2021 campaigned on a promise to create a white-collar crime unit. “There was a strong call to action,” Champagne told reporters Thursday, per Blacklock’s Reporter. “There will be more work. We have a work plan.”“We went back to basics. For me this G7 is back to basics, back to the core mission.”“I can think about tackling financial crime,” said Champagne. He did not elaborate..Champagne and other finance ministers issued a joint statement entitled Financial Crime Call To Action.“We remain steadfast in our commitment to tackling financial crime including money laundering, terrorist financing and the financing of proliferation of weapons of mass destruction,” it said.“We endorse a financial crime call to action to spur further progress.”Neither Champagne nor his department mentioned a 2021 campaign promise to establish a Canadian Financial Crimes Agency. The Liberal party included the commitment in that year’s election platform Forward For Everyone.“Fraud, money-laundering, insider trading, organized crime and other financial crimes put Canadians at risk and put our economy at risk,” stated the party’s platform.“A re-elected Liberal government will establish Canada’s first ever nationwide agency whose sole purpose is to investigate these highly complex crimes and enforce federal laws in this area.”.The new agency would combine forensic audit services of the Canada Revenue Agency, the “intelligence capabilities” of the anti-money laundering Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre and financial crimes unit of the RCMP, it said. No legislation was ever tabled.The Department of Public Works in 2023 hired consultants to “conduct research” on financial crimes.“The final report will complement internal research, analysis and policy development to inform a proposal to establish this new law enforcement agency,” the department wrote in a notice to contractors.The report was due March 31, 2024. It was never published..“We recognize financial crime acts as a barrier to growth, development and stability,” wrote Champagne and his ministers in this week’s call to action.Expert witnesses testifying at 2022 hearings of the Commons Public Safety Committee said the Financial Crimes Agency must proceed in tandem with federal rules on beneficial ownership.“Whether this is 2025 or 2023, it should happen as soon as possible,” testified Prof. Alexander Cooley of Barnard College of New York.“I think every country needs to know what the anonymous shell companies are and who’s behind them that are buying luxury real estate but also assets. I think any time you put the norm of privacy and my client’s privacy against transparency you’re on the losing side.”