1 tax haven, 3 of Canada’s biggest banks, 2,000 offshore companies

Three of Canada’s big banks have registered nearly 2,000 offshore companies and private foundations in the Caribbean tax haven of the Bahamas, according to newly leaked corporate records obtained exclusively in Canada by the Star and CBC/Radio-Canada.

RBC, CIBC and Scotiabank appear conspicuously throughout the database of 175,500 corporate registrations on the island nation, which has earned an international reputation as one of the most secretive financial jurisdictions in the world.

According to the data, RBC registered 847 companies, CIBC registered 632 and Scotiabank registered 481 in the Bahamas between 1990 and this past May.

The leaked records provide never-before-seen details behind the intimate relationship Canada’s banks have forged with island tax havens over the past five decades. Some experts even credit Canada’s banking industry with helping pioneer offshore wealth movement to no-tax and low-tax jurisdictions in the Caribbean.  (more...)

1 tax haven, 3 of Canada’s biggest banks, 2,000 offshore companies