About
Paul Martin was the Liberal prime minister of Canada from 2003 to 2006. He had been a prominent businessman who owned CSL Group Inc. but sold it to his sons in 2003 to minimize conflicts of interest while serving as prime minister. Martin was criticized by political opponents for his company’s offshore holdings. In 1995, as finance minister, he had exempted Barbados, where CSL would set up key units, from offshore tax reform.In the data
In 1991, CSL Self-Unloader Investments Ltd., part of the CSL Group, was registered in Bermuda. It was created to hold the shares of two Barbadian corporations involved in a leaseback contract for three shipping vessels owned by the group. The company was active while he held government positions, including minister of finance.
CSL Group registered at least 12 more entities in Bermuda in the years after Martin’s children took over the firm according to the Appleby files. The companies were registered in 2012 and 2013 and their purposes involved international traffic, vessels and transportation of cargo.
Response
A spokesperson for Martin said that he “has not been involved in CSL in over a quarter century and is not in a position to comment on its operations.”
A spokeswoman for CSL said that CSL is a private company and “does not share proprietary information publicly. CSL and all its affiliates rigorously uphold the highest ethical and business standards, and comply with the laws, rules and regulations of each jurisdiction in which they operate.”
