Does Offshore Banking Confidentiality Hold Up In Canadian Courts?

The April 2016 "Panama Papers" leak highlighted the attraction for transnational actors of the confidentiality available in certain offshore financial centres. Some of these jurisdictions have laws that make it a criminal offence for banks to disclose information about their clients, providing powerful protection for individuals and corporations who wish to keep their financial affairs private. However, if a bank becomes involved in Canadian proceedings, those foreign laws may conflict with the disclosure obligations imposed on litigants here. These situations raise questions about when foreign law can provide a basis to excuse production, or to refuse the answering of a question, in a Canadian proceeding, and under what circumstances a Canadian court will compel disclosure despite potential foreign legal jeopardy.