2
April 2016
MetroVan Independent News
MVINEWS.COM
NEWS
RBC denies wrongdoing after being named in Panama Papers
CONTINUED FROM PAGE 1
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There's nothing illegal about foreign
incorporations, something a bank
spokesman who was quick to note in
a request for comment from media
organizations.
"There are a number of legitimate
reasons to set up a holding company,"
Tanis Feasby said. "If we have reason
to believe a client is seeking to commit
a criminal [offence] by evading taxes,
we would report the offence and not do
business with the client."
"We have an extensive due diligence
process to ensure we understand who the
client is and what their intentions are, and
will not proceed with a transaction until we
do."
"RBC works within the legal and
regulatory framework of every country in
which we operate," Feasby continued. "Tax
evasion is illegal, and we have established
controls, policies and procedures in place
to detect it and prevent it occurring through
RBC. We have high standards, and our
internal policies build on the regulatory
requirements in each jurisdiction."
"We make sure our clients have the
information they need to properly file
their taxes and we advise them of their
obligation to do so. We also advise them to
seek independent professional tax advice."
There's nothing illegal about such
structures, nor should society want to
make them so, says Allison Christians, a
law professor and the Stikeman chair in tax
law at McGill University in Montreal.
"We wouldn't want to have laws
like that," she said. "You want to be able
to have international businesses and be a
part of the global community."
The sheer size of the data dump — at
2.6 terabytes of data, the Panama Papers
are exponentially larger than
WikiLeaks' massive release of diplomatic
cables in 2010 — is "striking," Christians
acknowledges, considering they come
from just one law firm. But, she says,
they point to "something that looks like it
has global proportions."
Christians draws a firm line between tax
avoidance and tax evasion, *v