Three of Canada’s big banks provided services to nearly 2,000 offshore corporations since 1990 in the Bahamas, one of the world’s premier tax havens, leaked records show. The revelation has elicited concerns from a leading governance expert that they may be inadvertently aiding illicit activities.
Subsidiaries of CIBC, Royal Bank and Scotiabank helped administer Bahamas corporations with names like Bifocal Holdings, Bear With Me Corp. and Zizi Ocean Ltd., though nearly half the companies are no longer active. At a minimum, the services provided consisted of paying annual fees and filing paperwork — but in many cases also consisted of incorporating the offshore companies.
Read the full article at CBC News.
