PROPOSED CANADIAN LEGISLATION ON BENEFICIAL OWNERSHIP AND CONTROL

House of Commons of Canada

 House of Commons Bill C-86 represents a novel effort to insure that information on Beneficial ownership of private corporations is available to regulators. Rather than rely upon the generally unsatisfactory use of certificates from corporate officers to identify ownership of a company, this bill takes a different approach.

Bill C-86 requires that corporations identify individuals with "Significant Control" of a corporation.
This means that those with a significant number of shares shall include:

'(1) Registered Shareholders.
(2) Beneficial Owners.
(3) Individuals with direct or indirect control or direction over shares.
(4) An individuals who has direct or indirect influence that, if exercised, would result in de facto control of the corporation.
(5) An individual to whom specific circumstances, set by regulations, apply.

The individuals who have Significant Control must supply their names, dates of birth, jurisdictions of residence for tax purposes, and details of how they hold control, to be held in a corporation Register. 

There are severe penalties for companies that violate the provisions of this bill. Six months' imprisonment or C$200,000 fines can be imposed for violations.

Readers who wish to review the bill may access the complete text here.