TORONTO — The Bank of Montreal's CEO is defending the Canadian banking sector's anti-money laundering practices following reports linking a major Canadian financial institution to a Panamanian law firm at the centre of a data leak on the use of offshore tax havens.
Bill Downe says Canadian banks have "dramatically" beefed up their anti-money laundering controls over the last seven to 10 years at the request of various governments around the world.
Downe says that if any violations do emerge from documents leaked from the law firm Mossack Fonseca, he suspects they will be in relation to business that originated a long time ago.
Downe made his comments in an interview following the bank's annual shareholder meeting in Toronto on Tuesday.
Media reports claimed the Royal Bank of Canada (TSX:RY) and its subsidiaries used the Panamanian law firm to set up more than 370 shell companies.
The Royal Bank said in response that it operates within the law and that it has policies in place to prevent tax evasion.
