Privacy Commissioner Jennifer Stoddart is "closely monitoring" a U.S. law that is slated to pursue tax evaders living abroad, The Globe and Mail reports. U.S. tax authorities plan to require foreign financial institutions to disclose the amount of money held by American accountholders. A spokeswoman for Stoddart said, "The concern is the collection of customers' personal information and the transfer to the U.S." The U.S. law, which will go into effect in 2013, would pressure Canadian banks, brokers, insurers and mutual funds to collect U.S. Social Security numbers and account balances and share them with the Internal Revenue Service. According to the report, Finance Minister Jim Flaherty is seeking an exemption, saying that Canada is not a "tax haven."
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