(Releads with government request, adds details, opposition
reaction; figures in Canadian dollars unless otherwise stated)
By David Ljunggren and Matt Scuffham
OTTAWA/TORONTO, April 4 (Reuters) - Canada on Monday sought
a copy of the "Panama Papers" revelations about potential tax
evasion while a big Canadian bank defended its practices after
documents allegedly showed it had used the services of the firm
at the heart of the case.
Governments across the world began investigating possible
wrongdoing by the rich and powerful after a huge leak of
documents from a Panamanian law firm revealed the financial
arrangements of global politicians and other figures.
Canada is closely watching the cases of citizens found to
have set up offshore companies in Panama and elsewhere and will
refer cases to prosecutors if necessary, said a spokeswoman for
National Revenue Minister Diane Lebouthillier.
"The Minister of National Revenue has instructed Canada
Revenue Agency officials to obtain the list of data leaked
through the Panama Papers," said Chloe Luciani-Girouard.
Royal Bank of Canada RY.TO said it had controls in place
to prevent illegal activities after documents allegedly showed
it had regularly used the services of Mossack Fonseca, the
Panama-based firm.
RBC , Canada's biggest bank, and its subsidiaries were
associated with 378 shell companies registered in the Mossack
Fonseca data, the Toronto Star newspaper reported.
RBC said that it worked within the legal and regulatory
framework of every country in which it operates and had an
extensive due diligence process to understand what its clients'
intentions were.
Canada's opposition left-leaning New Democrats said the fact
a prominent Canadian bank could be involved was "very worrying."
A spokesman for federal Finance Minister Bill Morneau said
that "at this point, we have no reason to believe Canadian banks
have acted unlawfully."
Canada's new Liberal government last month promised to
invest almost C$450 million ($345 million) over five years to
gather more information about tax evasion and tax avoidance.
Since January 2015, Canada had already been monitoring all
international transfers of funds worth more than C$10,000,
including those from Panama, said Luciani-Girouard.
"Compliance actions will be taken as appropriate - including
referrals to Public Prosecution Services of Canada for possible
criminal prosecution," she said in an e-mail.
The Toronto Star named one Canadian listed in the documents
as Eric Van Nguyen, who along with seven others was charged in
New York in 2014 with duping investors out of $290 million. He
could not immediately be contacted.
($1=$1.31 Canadian)
(Writing by David Ljunggren; Editing by Meredith Mazzilli)