https://business.financialpost.com/diane-francis/money-laundering-by-foreigners-is-whats-really-destroying-housing-affordability-in-canada?video_autoplay=true#comments-area
Diane Francis, once again, approaches a topic that sometimes ruffles feathers due to the mere mentions of "Foreigner" activities and domestic activities.
Her suggestions are spot on, but of course not exhaustive:
"The disclosure of beneficial owners is a key solution. Otherwise, for example, real estate can be bought by a proxy person or company. Typically, funds come from a trust, managed by a shell company owned by another trust with an account in Luxembourg or Vanuatu, managed by a Swiss or Singaporean banker who doesn’t know the owner. Such arrangements must be illegal. The U.S. Treasury Department now requires beneficial ownership disclosure.
This is what Canada must do to drive out dirty money and get prices in line:
— Create a public registry of beneficial owners, and penalties for non-disclosure;
— Lawyers, real estate agents and notaries must report suspicious owners and transactions, as is now required of banks;
— Speculation must be stopped by taxing residences that are unoccupied, which will also free up supply; and
— Where real estate prices have soared above affordable levels for locals, bans on foreign ownership should be imposed as has been done in New Zealand, China, Hong Kong, Switzerland, Greece, Hungary, Denmark, Poland and Malta, among others."
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