![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.livabl.com\/articles\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/05\/vancouver-housing-market-1.jpg\")
<\/a><\/p>\nPhoto: Mohammadali F.\/Flickr<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n It\u2019s been over three years since anti-corruption organization Transparency International Canada sounded the alarm on the Canadian real estate market, characterizing it as a hotbed for organized crime.<\/p>\n The organization focused on government handling of home ownership and transactional data, which it said was a valuable tool in money laundering and tax evasion schemes. One of the most widely quoted findings from the report was that government records didn\u2019t clearly identify the real owners of nearly half of Vancouver\u2019s most valuable properties.<\/p>\n \u201cThe true owners were hiding behind shell companies, trusts and nominee owners,\u201d the group went on to write in a similarly scathing follow-up report published earlier this year titled Opacity: Why Criminals Love Canadian Real Estate (And How to Fix It)<\/em>.<\/p>\n\n Both reports garnered plenty of attention from the media, general public and elected leaders looking to hit back at criminal activity in the province while also scoring points in the policy debate over affordable housing.<\/p>\n Several years after the extent of the issue came to light, the NDP BC government has taken policy action.<\/p>\n \u201cThe new amendments to the Business Corporations Act will require private businesses in B.C. to keep and maintain transparency records of beneficial owners, including individuals who have direct or indirect control of the company or its shares,\u201d explains Vancouver realtor Steve Saretsky in a blog post<\/a> published last week. \u201cInformation collected includes full legal name, date of birth, citizenship and last known address.\u201d<\/p>\n While Saretsky, who frequently publishes commentary on major issues affecting the local and national real estate markets, believes the crackdown on money laundering and other criminal activity plaguing the province\u2019s real estate market is a \u201cwelcoming concept.\u201d<\/p>\n However, there will be market consequences to the ongoing campaign to stamp out criminal activity in the Vancouver housing market.<\/p>\n \u201cThe move is likely to be another crushing blow to Vancouver\u2019s luxury housing market which is still succumbing to gravity after peaking nearly three years ago,\u201d writes Saretsky. \u201cThere is already a plethora of homes for sale in the luxury market.\u201d<\/p>\n