I would challenge the title's assertion somewhat; at least, when Canadian banks are involved (as one would assume even with shell companies). Canada participat

I would challenge the title's assertion somewhat; at least, when Canadian banks are involved (as one would assume even with shell companies). Canada participates in the Automatic Exchange of Information (AEOI) [1]. That means that even though some of these companies might not be required to file tax reports, the banks where they hold their accounts most certainly have to report the account holder and, where applicable, all beneficial owners [2]. Simply put, if I, personally, held money at a Canadian bank either directly, or indirectly via a shell company, I might not have many reporting requirements with the Canadian government directly, but the bank would have reporting requirements, which would ultimately lead to the bank's reports landing on the desk of my home country's tax authority [3]. The only way around this is the bank not keeping their AML/KYC records as straight as they should, but supervisory authorities usually come down hard on those cases. [1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Reporting_Standard https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Common_Reporting_Standard [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beneficial_owner https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Beneficial_owner [3] Provided both countries actually exchange information, which is the case for dozens of countries as of now. That includes Canada, Switzerland, and many other countries one might consider a "tax haven". It doesn't include the USA, however. Many would say that the USA are the last real tax haven.