Tax havens: Caisse has invested more than $35 million in funds managed by White Star

Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ) has invested more than $35 million in funds registered here for White Star Capital, which is active in the Guernsey tax haven, has learned Newspaper.

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“La Caisse has invested $15 million in White Star II and $20 million in White Star III,” she confirmed to magazine Maxime Chagnon, Head of Global Media Relations at Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec (CDPQ). In Canadian dollars, this comes to approximately $37 million. By comparison, Investissement Québec (IQ) has invested more than $45 million in White Star funds here, namely $24.75 million (2021), $10 million (2018) and $10.6 million (2014). For its part, Fonds de Solidarité FTQ invested $15 million in White Star III and $15 million in White Star II, for a total of $30 million.

More than 112 million dollars

In recent years, Caisse Fund, Investissement Québec and Fonds de Solidarité FTQ have jointly invested more than $112 million in White Star funds.

in a magazineCaisse spokesman Maxime Chagnon insists that Mystic Stock lobbied for money invested in White Star funds to stay in Quebec and not go to Guernsey.

“The White Star II fund, in which Caisse invested $15 million, is already registered in Quebec. It was originally registered in Guernsey, but in the fall of 2019, we were in discussions with the White Star to persuade them to register Fund II in Quebec,” explained Maxime Chagnon .

“This was completed during 2020, when we also started negotiations to invest $20 million in the third fund. It is also registered in Quebec.

summit meeting

The interview took place in magazineAt the end of October, Jean-Francois Marco, one of White Star’s control directors, admitted there were activities in Guernsey, where another control director, Eric Martineau-Fortin, lives.

He stressed that “what is part of the structure in Quebec remains in Quebec and does not pass through Guernsey”, which serves to attract European money.

Former contributor Fitzgibbon

Remember, Economy Minister Pierre Fitzgibbon actually introduced Eric Martineau-Fortin to Prime Minister François Legault in Paris in 2019, while he was still holding money in one of their funds.

Last June, Mr. Fitzgibbon withdrew from the Cabinet and then resumed his seat after complying with the National Assembly’s code of ethics.

There was no discussion between Mr. Fitzgibbon and White Star about IQ’s new $25 million in the company’s $450 million fund, according to his company.

♦ White Star has invested in Montreal companies such as Angel Host, Dfuse and Dialogue, which went public in March 2021.

White Star Capital in brief

• Enterprise: 2014
• employees: 30
• Pay: Germany, Canada, South Korea, the United States, France, Guernsey, Japan, Monaco, Poland and the United Kingdom

Sources: Caisse de dépôt et placement du Québec and White Star

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