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Bill C-81

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RECOMMENDATION

His Excellency the Governor General recommends to the House of Commons the appropriation of public revenue under the circumstances, in the manner and for the purposes set out in a measure entitled ``An Act to facilitate combatting the laundering of proceeds of crime, to establish the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada and to amend or repeal certain Acts in consequence''.

SUMMARY

Part 1 of this enactment establishes specific measures to detect and deter money laundering and to facilitate the investigation and prosecution of money laundering offences. These measures include requiring financial institutions and other persons and entities that act as financial intermediaries to keep records and report suspicious financial transactions.

Part 2 of this enactment requires all persons or entities importing into Canada or exporting from Canada currency and monetary instruments of a value over a prescribed amount to file a report with the Department of National Revenue.

Part 3 of this enactment establishes an independent agency to be called the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (the Centre) that will receive reports made under Parts 1 and 2. The Centre will analyse and assess the reports together with other information available to it. If the Centre has reasonable grounds to suspect that the designated information would be relevant to investigating or prosecuting a money laundering offence, it shall disclose only designated information to the appropriate police force and, if specified conditions are met, to the Department of National Revenue, the Canadian Security and Intelligence Service and the Department of Citizenship and Immigration. The Centre is also responsible for conducting research and for undertaking educational measures to inform those who are required to report suspicious transactions and the law enforcement community about the nature and extent of money laundering and effective deterrence and detection measures.

Part 4 of this enactment creates offences for failing to report suspicious financial transactions and for the inappropriate disclosure or use of information under the control of the Centre.

EXPLANATORY NOTES

Canada Post Corporation Act

Clause 84: Subsection 40(3) reads as follows:

(3) Notwithstanding any other Act or law, but subject to this Act and the regulations and to the Canadian Security Intelligence Service Act and the Customs Act, nothing in the course of post is liable to demand, seizure or detention.

Clause 85: Subsections 42(2) to (3) read as follows:

(2) All mail that is submitted to a customs officer under this section remains, for the purposes of this Act, in the course of post unless it is seized under the Customs Act.

(2.1) Where mail is seized or detained under the Customs Act, notice of the seizure or detention shall be given in writing to the Corporation within sixty days after the seizure or detention unless the mail has, before the expiration of that time, been delivered to the addressee thereof or returned to the Corporation.

(3) A customs officer shall deal with all mail submitted to him under this section in accordance with the laws relating to customs and the importation of goods and, subject to such laws, shall deliver such mail to the addressee thereof, on payment of any postage due thereon, or shall return it to the Corporation.

Clause 86: Section 48 reads as follows:

48. Every person commits an offence who, except where expressly authorized by or under this Act or the Customs Act, knowingly opens, keeps, secretes, delays or detains, or permits to be opened, kept, secreted, delayed or detained, any mail bag or mail or any receptacle or device authorized by the Corporation for the posting of mail.

Criminal Code

Clause 87: Subsection 488.1(11) reads as follows:

(11) This section does not apply in circumstances where a claim of solicitor-client privilege may be made under the Income Tax Act.

Seized Property Management Act

Clause 91: The relevant portion of section 3 reads as follows:

3. The purposes of this Act are

    . . .

    (b) to authorize the Minister to manage certain property

      . . .

Clause 92: The relevant portion of subsection 4(1) reads as follows:

4. (1) On taking possession or control thereof, the Minister shall be responsible for the custody and management of all property that is

    . . .

Clause 93: The relevant portion of section 9 reads as follows:

9. In carrying out the purposes of this Act, the Minister may

    . . .

    (e) notwithstanding subsection 734.4(2) of the Criminal Code and sections 125 and 126 of the Excise Act, where a fine, or any portion thereof, imposed pursuant to subsection 462.37(3) of the Criminal Code in relation to proceedings commenced at the instance of the Government of Canada is paid or recovered, share the amount thereof in accordance with this Act, the regulations and any agreement entered into pursuant to section 11;

Clause 94: New.

Clause 95: Section 11 reads as follows:

11. The Attorney General may, with the approval of the Governor in Council and in accordance with the regulations, enter into an agreement with the government of any foreign state respecting the reciprocal sharing of

    (a) the proceeds of disposition of

      (i) property forfeited to Her Majesty pursuant to subsection 462.37(1) or (2) or 462.38(2) or subparagraph 462.43(c)(iii) of the Criminal Code or subsection 16(1) or 17(2) of the Controlled Drugs and Substances Act, or

      (ii) property that is or was the subject of a management order and that was forfeited pursuant to subsection 490(9) of the Criminal Code

    and the proceeds arising from the disposition of property by that foreign state, and

    (b) amounts paid or recovered on account of fines imposed pursuant to subsection 462.37(3) of the Criminal Code in relation to proceedings commenced at the instance of the Government of Canada, and amounts paid or recovered on account of fines imposed in lieu of forfeiture pursuant to the laws of that foreign state,

where law enforcement agencies of that foreign state, or of Canada, as the case may be, have participated in the investigation of the offence or offences that led to the forfeiture of the property or the imposition of the fine.

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