The Auditor General of Canada, Michael Ferguson, released his Spring 2013 Report (the “Report“) today and among the key findings, found that a whopping $3.1 billion in funding to programs to combat terrorism in Canada is unaccounted for. Moreover, the Report found that some of the $12.9 billion approved for fighting terrorism in Canada went to pay for [...]
Canada is failing miserably in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing efforts according to a report published by the country’s Senate Standing Committee on Banking, Trade and Commerce. The report, entitled “Follow the Money: Is Canada Making Progress in Combatting Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing? Not Really” (the “Report“) makes several findings and recommendations, the chief [...]
According to this article in the Vancouver Sun, the Vancouver airport tops the country with the most seizures of unreported currency by travellers, with over $15 million intercepted in one year. Most of the persons entering or departing the country with undeclared currency originate or are travelling to, China. Under the Proceeds of Crime (Money [...]
The Canadian government announced that it is undertaking a potentially significant revision to its anti-money laundering (AML) and counter terrorist financing (CTF) regime. The proposed changes are in addition to those proposed by the government in November 2011. In its Consultation Paper entitled “Strengthening Canada’s Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Regime”, the government is proposing [...]
On September 30, 2010 one of the landmark abuse of dominance cases in Canada was settled after approximately four years of investigation by the federal Competition Bureau and negotiations with The Canadian Real Estate Association (“CREA”), one of the largest single industry trade associations in Canada. The Consent Agreement entered into between the Competition Bureau (the [...]
FINTRAC issued its 2010 Annual Report to Parliament today and among the highlights in this year’s report are the following: FINTRAC made 579 disclosures of information that it suspected may be relevant for investigating threats to Canada’s national security, terrorist financing or money laundering; Approximately 63% of the disclosures of information were made to the [...]
According to this article in the Toronto Star, FINTRAC is working with the FATF to evaluate money laundering and terrorist financing risks associated with prepaid cards, mobile payment services and Internet based payment services. The FATF will be collating information from cases where mobile and Internet based payment services were used to launder funds or [...]
FINTRAC, Canada's financial intelligence unit, has assessed relatively minor penalties against two money services businesses. Sutlej Foreign Exchange Inc., an Ontario-based money services business, was fined $8,450 for failing to: have a written compliance plan; undertake a risk assessment for a compliance plan; train employees on anti-money laundering; report electronic funds transfers to FINTRAC; and [...]
Canada needs to improve its anti-money laundering efforts in several areas, according to the 2010 Money Laundering Report published by the U.S. Department of State. Canada was among 61 countries identified as major money laundering countries in 2009. Others include Afghanistan, Austria, Brazil, Cayman Islands, China, Greece, India, Iran, Italy, Lebanon, Lichtenstein, Mexico, Pakistan, Turkey, [...]
FINTRAC has fined Bharat Money Exchange Ltd., located in Surrey, British Columbia, $36,100 for numerous violations of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act for operating a money services business without registering with FINTRAC or filing appropriate reports. Bharat was also fined for numerous failures flowing from its unregistered status, including failure to [...]