“We know that these types of countries are characterized by low or zero taxation and moderate to light financial regulation,” said François Lavoie, an analyst at Statscan, which undertook the study.
But the Canadian Bankers Association has challenged the report, saying “the underlying premise is entirely unfounded and misleading.”
The association added that there is nothing wrong with what the banks are doing.
Francis Wade, who runs Can-Offshore Services, a Belize-based company that specializes in offshore banking, said regulations in many countries have been tightened and he questioned figures quoted in the study.
Mr. Wade said most banks in the Caribbean have less than $20-million in total customer deposits and could not accommodate the sums indicated by the report.
