PROCESSING...

Anti-Money Laundering
Consulting Services & Strategies

0 Items - Total: $0.00 CAD

First AML Compliance Effectiveness Review Timing

As a company that gets to work with a lot of startups, and existing companies entering the Canadian market, we get to help folks understand the regulatory landscape in Canada. One of the required elements of a Canadian compliance program is an AML Compliance Effectiveness Review. These reviews must be completed every two years at a minimum. You can think of it like an audit, but for compliance.

The purpose of an effectiveness review is to determine whether your AML compliance program has gaps or weaknesses that may prevent your business from effectively preventing, detecting and deterring money laundering and terrorist financing. Recently, we have seen an increased focus on Effectiveness Reviews during FINTRAC examinations. Specifically, on whether the review really tested the effectiveness of the compliance program as a whole (not just what you say you’re doing, but also what you’re actually doing). This has led to FINTRAC examiners requesting the working papers for completed effectiveness reviews where the report did not clearly describe how the effectiveness was tested and assessed. This is the main reason Outlier has started providing our working papers with the final report. This also provides a pretty good reference point for making sure you are meeting your regulatory expectations.

First Time for Everything

In previous engagements, Outlier has operated on the theory that the clock for when your first review was due stemmed from the MSB’s FINTRAC registration date. However, we were incorrect. It wasn’t until a recent conversation where the registration date preceded any customer transactions by six months, that really spurred on an official clarification from the regulator. The trigger for the 2-year clock to start ticking is not registration but “a registered MSB is required to create a compliance program once it engages in one or more of the MSB-related activities.” This means that the clock starts ticking after the MSB has conducted their first transaction.

Here is a PDF version of the policy interpretation we received from FINTRAC that you can keep for your records.

Potential Corrections

If we have completed a review for you in the past that has a commencement date prior to your first customer transaction, please feel free to reach out so we can amend your report to the proper date.

Upcoming Effectiveness Reviews

While this article talks about your first review, you must also be sure to initiate all subsequent reviews within 2 years of the start date of your previous review. Please note that this is based on the previous commencement date, not the date of completion or issuance of the final report.

Need a Hand?

If you are looking for an idea of pricing for an upcoming review or have questions about a review that is currently underway, please feel free to contact us.

9 Years of Entrepreneurship


If you had told me ten years ago that I would be in the longest-running position in the history of my career, I wouldn’t have believed you. Back then, I was unhappy for various reasons, and while I had started to think about what I really wanted from my work life, I had yet to take some of the big steps to get there. I won’t go into the gory details of where I was or the situations that weren’t working for me. Suffice it to say that there was a lot that wasn’t working, and I didn’t know how to fix it… but I had some ideas.

If you’re sitting in a spot, like I was then, perhaps feeling a bit despairing and lost despite what many might consider your own success, this post is for you. It’s been written as a love letter, from the woman that I am today to the woman that I was then… Whether today you’re solving problems like a champion, just putting one foot in front of the other, or sitting on the couch thinking that you may want to get up – it’s all part of the journey.

Give yourself permission to name the things that you really want

Once, a former mentor (Lin, a founder of CU Training, now retired) literally gave me permission to take notes with coloured markers. The notes included cartoons of key points. I love to draw. It’s a great memory aid, but it’s something that I saw as being “unprofessional” and had trained myself out of…

This conversation got me thinking – what else hadn’t I given myself permission to write (or draw)? Were there things that I wasn’t giving words to?

Of course, there were.

In fact, there were a whole lot of things that I had been afraid, for one reason or another, to think too deeply about, let alone describe. So many of these things related to what I really wanted from life.

Write it down

This led to a trip to a shop in Victoria, BC, where I bought a beautiful notebook that I didn’t write anything in for a while. It would become the place where I wrote down what I wanted in life. This is the page from that book for “work.”

When I put pen to paper in this book, the rules are simple. I don’t beat myself up about what’s not working in my current state. I have a good think about what I really want, and I write it down. Whether it seems improbable or downright impossible, I write it down.

Looking back at this page, written over a year before my company, Outlier Compliance Group was a conscious thought, I can see its beginnings here.

Keep writing

I look back at and add to the old pages, building on the ideas there. It makes me smile to see where I’ve grown into myself and accomplished things that I thought impossible. I add new pages to the book.

It’s easier now to give myself permission to write than it was at first, but it’s still not easy! That’s okay. I think that’s part of how I know that I’m still growing and pushing myself.

Be open to opportunity

In the last decade, I’ve worked with amazing companies and entrepreneurs. I’ve consulted governments and NGOs. I’ve taught classes and presented at conferences around the world. I’ve made the type of career decisions and personal investments that have set me up to be secure in a way that I would have found unfathomable. Some of the people that I admire most in the world have become mentors and friends.

Sometimes, I think about where I was at various points in my life: living in poverty, in the foster care system, in very unhealthy work environments, and I wish that I could reach back into the past and let that version of me see the me that I am today… to let that version of me know that all of the hard work that I was doing would prepare me for opportunities that I wouldn’t have dared to dream of then.

The best part is that, eventually, success can become a virtuous cycle. The more opportunity I seize, the more seems to flow my way, and the more I am prepared to tackle… and the more that I am able to help others to help themselves along the way!

Take enough risk to get knocked down

This is not to say that it’s easy to seize opportunities, or that I don’t get knocked down from time to time. I do, and it’s not fun!

When something knocks me down, I try to remember that this is the price of “stepping into the ring.” Sometimes, I’ll get knocked down.

This is part of the risk-return curve; there’s no success without risk.

Get back up and do it again

Once, an interviewer presented me with a big list of leadership characteristics and asked me what the most important was to me. After reading the list, I asked if I could add another word to the list. That word is relentlessness, and I stand by it.

This is not to say that I keep doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result, but rather that I learn, adjust tactics and pursue my goals with ardour.

If you can’t find it, build it

I think that everyone close to me had a sense that I would do something entrepreneurial long before I did. I was always looking for novel ways to solve problems, no matter the environment that I was in. This has become the number one question that I ask entrepreneurs that come to me for advice – what problem are you solving?

It’s important from a business perspective, as well as from a personal satisfaction perspective. When we understand what we’re doing and why, we all tend to be more motivated and focused.

Find your tribe

I am grateful every day for the incredible people in my life. I grew up feeling like an outsider, and I had to a large extent, accepted that this is the way I would always feel (and I was ok with that). It takes me by surprise sometimes to realize that I don’t feel that way anymore. I spend most of my waking hours solving problems and socializing with people that I love, respect and admire. Even when we’re dealing with difficult or stressful situations, I am still grateful for my friends, colleagues and clients every day.

The caveat here is that there are only 24 hours in a day. Each hour that you spend with the wrong folks is a missed opportunity to spend time with the right folks. Choose wisely!

Forgive yourself

This is something that I am still learning, and maybe I will be forever… When I make mistakes, I take it hard. I can hold a grudge for a very long time, and while I think that’s healthy in some cases, I shouldn’t be holding a grudge against myself. Making mistakes is part of learning and growing, and I need to be honest, forgive myself and get to learning rather than dwelling.

The idea that there are only 24 hours in a day is important here too. Time spent beating oneself up is not time well spent.

Effectiveness Reviews for Dealers in Virtual Currency

Effective June 1, 2020, dealers in Virtual Currency activities were considered as Money Services Businesses (MSBs) and as such, must comply with MSB obligations under amendments made to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA). One obligation is to have an AML effectiveness review at least once every two years. MSBs must start their effectiveness review no later than two years from the start of their previous review or in the case of dealers in Virtual Currency, no later than June 1, 2022, the date they were considered to be MSBs under law.

Such reviews must test your compliance program and effectiveness of your operations. Our reviews follow a similar format to examinations conducted by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), which you can read more about in a previous Blog Post.

We’re Here To Help

If you have not yet engaged or commenced your review, there are still a couple of weeks to be compliant. If you would like to engage Outlier to conduct your AML Compliance Effectiveness Review or have questions regarding this obligation, please get in touch.

Amendments To The Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Regulations – 2022

Background

On April 27, 2022 amendments to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Regulations were published in the Canada Gazette. To make reading these changes a little easier, we (thanks Rodney) have created a redlined version of the regulations, with new content showing as tracked changes, which can be found here.

The Regulatory Impact Statement for these changes state the following:

Crowdfunding platforms and some payment service providers are not currently covered by the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (the Act) and therefore have no money laundering and terrorist financing obligations under federal statute. This lack of oversight presents a serious and immediate risk to the security of Canadians and to the Canadian economy. This risk was highlighted in early 2022, when illegal blockades took place across Canada that were financed, in part, through crowdfunding platforms and payment service providers. Allowing these gaps to continue represents a risk to the integrity and stability of the financial sector and the broader economy, as well as a reputational risk for Canada.

Amendments to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Regulations, and consequential amendments to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations, will help prevent the financing of illegal activities through these types of financial services.

What’s Changed?

The changes are substantial and sudden. They will affect many companies that have not been previously under the purview of AML regulation in Canada. These changes are effective immediately and there is no comment period, which is not the norm for such changes.

To help digest these changes, we have summarized what we feel are the most important changes below:

The definition for an electronic funds transfer has been removed and the corresponding section within the body of the regulations was amended. Previous exemptions related to remitting or transmitting from one person or entity to another by Credit or Debit Card, or Prepaid Payment Product if the beneficiary has an agreement with the payment service provider that permits payment for the provision of goods and services, has been revoked for money services businesses, which as we mentioned now includes Payment Service Providers.

The definitions section was amended by adding the following:

  • crowdfunding platform means a website or an application or other software that is used to raise funds or virtual currency through donations. (plateforme de sociofinancement)
  • crowdfunding platform services means the provision and maintenance of a crowdfunding platform for use by other persons or entities to raise funds or virtual currency for themselves or for persons or entities specified by them.

With these changes, crowdfunding platforms and payment service providers will now be subject to existing money services businesses requirements. These obligations include:

  • Registration with FINTRAC;
  • Developing a compliance program;
  • Customer identification and due diligence;
  • Transaction monitoring and customer risk scoring;
  • Reporting certain transactions to regulators and government agencies;
  • Complying with Ministerial Directives; and
  • Keeping records.

Specific to record keeping, crowdfunding platforms that provide services to persons or entities in Canada where a person donates an amount of CAD 1,000 or more in funds or virtual currency will need to:

(a) keep an information record in respect of the person or entity to which they provide those services;

(b) keep a record of the purpose for which the funds or virtual currency are being raised; and

(c) if the person or entity for which the funds or virtual currency are being raised is different from the person or entity referred to in paragraph (a),

      1. keep a record of their name, and
      2. take reasonable measures to obtain their address, the nature of their principal business or their occupation and, in the case of a person, their date of birth, and keep a record of the information obtained.

What Next?

Due to these changes, FINTRAC will need to revise its interpretation of existing requirements to include crowdfunding platforms and payment service providers. There is no set date for when we can expect guidance from FINTRAC. Additionally, various FINTRAC policy interpretations will no longer be able to be relied upon (i.e. policy interpretations related to merchant services as well as payment processing for utility bills, mortgage and rent, payroll, and tuition being exempt from AML obligations). The hope is FINTRAC will issue new policy interpretations, but for now the industry is left with many questions.

We’re Here To Help

If you would like assistance in understanding what these changes mean to your business, or if you need help in creating or updating your compliance program and processes, please get in touch.

FINTRAC Examinations for the Real Estate Sector

We often hear friends and clients in the real estate sector say they are unsure what to expect if (and when) the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) notifies them of an examination. This article is meant to provide guidance on what to expect and how to ensure a smooth review.

Background

In 2019–20, FINTRAC conducted 399 compliance examinations, of which 146 were focused on the real estate sector [1]. The real estate sector has been the main focus for FINTRAC examinations since 2017 due to the growing concern of money laundering taking place in the Vancouver, Toronto and Montreal real estate market.

For the purpose of assessing compliance, the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act gives FINTRAC the authority to inquire into the business of any regulated entity.

FINTRAC examinations are reviews of your compliance program (what you say you are doing to stay in compliance) and your operations (what you’re actually doing to stay in compliance). These exams can take place at any time and should not be confused with your obligation to have an AML Effectiveness Review at least once every two years. FINTRAC examinations can take place in-person onsite at your office, at a FINTRAC office, or over the phone. FINTRAC will provide advance notice of an examination, which is scheduled by telephone and confirmed by letter [2]. Note, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, FINTRAC is not currently conducting onsite examinations [3].

I Have Received Notice of an Exam. Now What?

FINTRAC will request documentation, including your compliance policies and procedures, assessment of risks of money laundering and terrorist financing, measures to mitigate high risks, samples of transaction documentation, and other documents be summitted to them. Based on FINTRAC’s areas of review, the below is a sample list of what you can expect to provide. We have also created a more detailed version of the list which you can find here.

  • Most recent version of compliance policies and procedures;
  • Most recent version of your documented risk assessment;
  • Copy of the last two documented internal and/or external reviews of your compliance program (this may include the reviewer’s working papers as well);
  • Training program and records;
  • Organizational Chart;
  • Financial Statements;
  • Number of full-time and part-time employees/sales representative;
  • All suspicious and attempted suspicious transaction records;
  • A list of all closed deals related to the sale/purchase of real estate;
  • In-Trust bank account records; and
  • Large cash transaction records.

You will generally have 30 days to provide all requested documentation to FINTRAC. It’s a good idea to read through the request carefully before you begin your preparation.

Whether you are submitting your materials on paper or in electronic format, it is a good idea to create folders or cover pages for each item that FINTRAC has requested. This creates separate sections for each item and helps you to stay organized. A missed item usually can’t be submitted once the deadline has passed, and can result in deficiencies. We’ve created a sample format for your submission package that you can download for free here.

The Exam

Whether the FINTRAC exam is in-person, at their office or over the phone, they follow very similar formats. The key difference is the regulator’s ability to request additional operational data during onsite examinations.

It is ok for you to take notes throughout the examination process (and we recommend that you do). You are permitted to have a lawyer, consultant or other representative with you (if you do, FINTRAC will request that you complete the Authorized Representative Form in advance). While your representative cannot generally answer questions on your behalf, they can prompt you if you are nervous or stuck, and help you to understand what is being asked of you if it is not clear.

The Introduction

The examiner will provide a brief overview of the examination process as a formal opening to the examination. At the end of this introduction, the examiner will ask if you have any questions. At this point, it can be useful to provide a very brief (five minutes maximum) overview of your business.

Your introduction should reflect the materials that you have already submitted to FINTRAC (which ideally included an opening letter that described anything about the business that would not be readily apparent to the examiner, or anything that you believe could be misunderstood). Key facts about your business include:

  • Your corporate structure and ownership;
  • The types of products and services that are offered/types of transactions that are conducted;
  • Where your offices, agents and customers are located;
  • How you connect with your customers; and
  • Anything significant that has changed since your last FINTRAC examination.

This overview should be simple and brief.  At this point, the examination will then begin. At the end of each section, the examiner will ask if you have any questions and let you know whether there are any deficiencies.

Compliance Policies & Procedures

During this part, FINTRAC will ask questions about the policy and procedure documents that you have provided in advance of the examination. There are a few standard questions that are generally asked:

  • Who wrote the policies and procedures?
  • Were the versions submitted to FINTRAC the most recent versions?
  • When were they last updated?
  • When and how do you identify your customers?
  • How do you ensure that identification is up to date?
  • How do you monitor transactions?
  • How do you recognize, document and monitor “business relationships” (note: this is any time that you have either an ongoing service agreement with a customer and/or your customer has performed two or more transactions that require identification [4]).
  • What are indicators of a suspicious transaction?
  • The examiner will also ask a number of questions based on the documents that you have submitted, including questions about compliance-related processes.

Risk Assessment

During this part, FINTRAC will focus on your Risk Based Approach, asking specific questions about the Risk Assessment and related documents that you have provided in advance of your examination. Again, there are some common questions that are asked:

  • Do you have any high risk customers or business relationships?
  • What factors do you consider in determining that a customer or business relationship is high risk?
  • How are customer due diligence and enhanced due diligence different (both generally, and in your processes and documentation)?

Most additional questions will be related to risk management processes. For example, it has been common in the last few months for examiners to ask if a customer or transaction could be rejected (“Yes, if it was outside of our risk tolerance”).

This may also lead to questions about whether or not an Attempted Suspicious Transaction Report (ASTR) or Suspicious Transaction Report (STR) was filed. If there were reasonable grounds to suspect money laundering or terrorist financing, the answer should be yes. If not, you should explicitly say “There were not reasonable grounds to believe that this event was related to money laundering or terrorist financing”, then provide an explanation.

Operational Compliance & Reporting

During this part, the examiner will ask questions about specific transactions/deals. Some of the cases that you must be ready to explain are:

  • A transaction matches an indicator of potentially suspicious activity (if there were reasonable grounds to suspect money laundering or terrorist financing, the answer should be that you filed an STR, if not, you should explicitly say that “there were not reasonable grounds to believe that this event was related to money laundering or terrorist financing”, then provide an explanation);
  • Questions related to receipt of funds and large cash transactions; and
  • Business relationships and ongoing monitoring (in particular, if this did not occur earlier in the examination).

During a desk examination, the examiners typically do not request additional materials.

During onsite examinations, it has become commonplace for examiners to request additional materials. These are generally related to:

  • Business relationships;
  • Ongoing monitoring (including the monitoring of business relationships);
  • High risk customers;
  • Enhanced due diligence; and
  • Other risk-based processes.

Be clear with the examiner about what can be extracted easily from your IT systems, and in the case that data cannot be extracted easily, be prepared to show the examiner an example (or several). If your system has an “auditor access” feature (generally read-only access with search capability), it can be useful to set this up in advance of the onsite visit.

Exit Interview

Congratulations – you’ve made it to the finish line!

At this point, the examiner will sum up the findings (if there are any), and read a standard disclosure statement. For most of us, the disclosure statement is terrifying, as it talks about penalties. This is standard process – do not be alarmed. When the examiner has finished, you may ask if a penalty is being recommended (if you’re a worrier, please do this). Not all FINTRAC examiners will provide guidance at this stage, but it doesn’t hurt to ask.

After the Exit Interview

After the examination and exit interview, generally within 30 days, you will receive a formal letter that details FINTRAC’s findings. The letter will state either of these possibilities:

  • No further compliance or enforcement action;
  • Possible follow-up compliance action; or
  • A recommendation for an enforcement action, such as an administrative monetary penalty (AMP).

In the case that there is an AMP imposed, we recommend taking action as soon as possible. In most cases, FINTRAC does not require real estate brokers and sales representatives to submit an action plan.

We’re Here To Help

If you need assistance preparing for a FINTRAC exam or have any compliance questions in general, please contact us.

 

 

[1] https://www.fintrac-canafe.gc.ca/publications/ar/2020/1-eng

[2] FINTRAC considers the date on which you are advised of an examination, which is typically done by phone, to be the start of the compliance examination process.

[3] https://www.fintrac-canafe.gc.ca/covid19/covid-2020-07-27-eng

[4] Effective June 1, 2021 a business relationship will be defined as either entering into an ongoing service agreement with a customer and/or your customer has performed one or more transactions that require identification.

The Iran Ministerial Directive’s Impact

Quick Overview

On July 25, 2020, a new Ministerial Directive (MD) was published in the Canada Gazette by the Minister of Finance on financial transactions associated with the Islamic Republic of Iran.  On July 27, 2020, FINTRAC issued guidance on how to incorporate the MD into your anti-money laundering (AML) program, along with some indicators for determining if a transaction is associated with Iran. This MD requires that every transaction originating from or bound for Iran be treated as high risk, regardless of the amount. This includes identifying every client, performing customer due diligence, and recording certain information. It is vital that your AML compliance program documentation contains internal processes related to MDs, even if you do not conduct transactions with Iran (or North Korea, based on the previous MD issued December 9, 2017).

What is a Ministerial Directive?

MDs are specific requirements imposed by the Minister of Finance that are meant to mitigate risks associated with activities that pose elevated risk and safeguard the integrity of Canada’s financial system. To date, these areas of elevated risk have been identified by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) as posing strategic deficiencies with regards to international standards for anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing.

What does this Ministerial Directive require?

The guidance from FINTRAC states that every bank, credit union, financial services cooperative, caisse populaire, authorized foreign bank and Money Services Business (MSB) must:

  • Treat every financial transaction originating from or bound for Iran, regardless of its amount, as a high-risk transaction;
  • Verify the identity of any client (person or entity) requesting or benefiting from such a transaction;
  • Exercise customer due diligence, including ascertaining the source of funds in any such transaction, the purpose of the transaction and, where appropriate, the beneficial ownership or control of any entity requesting or benefiting from the transaction;
  • Keep and retain a record of any such transaction;
  • Determine whether there are reasonable grounds to suspect the commission or attempted commission of a money laundering or terrorist financing offence and report all suspicious transactions to FINTRAC;
  • Reporting all other reportable transactions (if applicable).

To be clear, this MD does not apply to transactions where there is no suspicion or explicit connection with Iran and there is no evidence of the transaction originating from or being bound for Iran. A couple of examples were provided in the FINTRAC Guidance:

  • A client who has previously sent funds to Iran requests an outgoing EFT, where the transaction details do not suggest that this transaction is bound for Iran and you are unable to obtain further details about the transaction destination; or
  • The client’s identification information is the only suggestion of a connection to Iran (for example, a transaction where the conductor’s identification document is an Iranian passport).

What does it mean to you?

It is important to understand that even if your business does not facilitate transactions involving Iran, it is expected that you have a process in place for adhering to MDs, including how the Compliance Officer stays up to date. Within your AML compliance program documentation, you need to have a section that talks about MDs generally, plus specific procedures related to handling the current MDs (transactions involving Iran and North Korea). In the FINTRAC guidance related to this MD, it states that during an examination, FINTRAC will assess your compliance with MDs and failures to do so are considered very serious and may result in a penalty.

What now?

In order to ensure familiarity for anyone who interacts with customers and their transactions, the list of FINTRAC’s indicators should be communicated immediately.  Furthermore, the indicators should also be included in your procedure manuals and annual AML compliance training topics, allowing easy access to the information. Documenting the information and related processes for MDs is very important so you can demonstrate to FINTRAC your adherence to the requirements during an examination.

Need a hand?

We’ve made it easier for you to integrate this content into your program by putting the information into a Word document for you. If you aren’t sure what to do with this information and would like some assistance, please feel free to contact us.

Amended AML Regulations June 10, 2020 – Redlined Versions

The following red-lined versions have been created to reflect final amendments to Canadian anti-money laundering (AML) laws & regulations published in the Canada Gazette on June 10, 2020.  Amendments to the Cross-border Currency and Monetary Instruments Reporting Regulations will come into force on June 1, 2020. All other amendments will come into force on June 1, 2021. We have created industry specific blogs to make understanding the changes easier, which are located here.

Redlined versions of all the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Regulations are listed below for download.

These documents are not official versions of the regulations. Official versions can be found on the Government of Canada’s Justice Laws Website.

Regulations Amending the Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act

Please click the link below for downloadable PDF file.

Regulations Amending the Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Proceeds of Crime July 2019 – Redlined_June 2020

Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Regulations

Please click the links below for downloadable pdf files.
PCMLTF_July_2019_Redlined_Full_July_2019 – Redlined_June 2020

Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Suspicious Transaction Reporting Regulations

Please click the links below for downloadable pdf files.
PCMLTF_Suspicious_Transaction_Reporting_Regulations_July_2019 – Redlined_June 2020

Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Registration Regulations

Please click the link below for a downloadable PDF file.
PCMLTF_Registration_Regulations_July_2019 – Redlined_June 2020

Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Administrative Monetary Penalties Regulations

Please click the link below for a downloadable pdf file.
PCMLTF_Administrative_Monetary_Penalties_Regulations_July_2019 – Redlined_June 2020

Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Cross-Border Currency and Monetary Instruments Reporting Regulations

Please click the link below for a downloadable pdf file.
PCMLTF_Cross-Border_Currency_and_Monetary_Instruments_Reporting_Regulations_July_2019 – Redlined_June 2020

Need a Hand?

Whether you need to figure out if you’re a dealer in virtual currency, to put a compliance program in place, or to evaluate your existing compliance program, we can help. You can get in touch using our online form, by emailing info@outliercanada.com, or by calling us toll-free at 1-844-919-1623.

Amending the Amendments! 2020 AML Changes for Real Estate

Background

Back on July 10, 2019, the highly anticipated final version of the amendments to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and its enacted regulations were published. However, on June 10, 2020, further amendments to those amended regulations were published in the Canada Gazette. To make reading these changes a little easier, we have created a redlined version of the regulations, with new content showing as tracked changes, which can be found here.

The purpose of this round of amendments is to better align measures with international standards and level the playing field across reporting entities by applying stronger customer due diligence requirements and beneficial ownership requirements to designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs). The amendments come into force on June 1, 2021.

We have summarized the changes that will have an impact on real estate developers, brokers, and sales representatives below.

Business Relationship

One of the most significant proposed changes for real estate developers, brokers, and sales representatives is related to the definition of a business relationship. Currently, a business relationship is defined as:

If a person or entity does not have an account with you, a business relationship is formed once you have conducted two transactions or activities for which you have to:

  • verify the identity of the individual; or
  • confirm the existence of the entity.

The amendments change the definition for real estate developers, brokers, and sales representatives to the first time that the person or entity is required to verify the identity of the client.

For business relationships, a reporting entity must:

  • keep a record of the purpose and intended nature of the business relationship;
  • conduct ongoing monitoring of your business relationship with your client to:
    • detect any transactions that need to be reported as suspicious;
    • keep client identification and beneficial ownership information, as well as the purpose and intended nature records, up-to-date;
    • reassess your client’s risk level based on their transactions and activities; and
    • determine if the transactions and activities are consistent with what you know about your client;
  • keep a record of the measures you take to monitor your business relationships and the information you obtain as a result.

 This change in definition also means that ongoing monitoring must be applied for the following purposes:

  1. detecting any transactions that are required to be reported;
  2. keeping client identification information and the information up to date;
  3. reassessing the level of risk associated with the client’s transactions/activities; and
  4. determining whether transactions or activities are consistent with the information obtained about their client, including the risk assessment of the client.

PEP

The amendments will require real estate developers, brokers, and sales representatives to make a Politically exposed persons (PEP) determination when they enter into a business relationship (as defined above) with a client.

In addition, they will also be required to take reasonable measures to determine whether a client from whom they receive an amount of CAD 100,000 or more is a PEP.

If a positive determination is made, the following records must be kept:

  1. the office or position, and the organization or institution, in respect of which the person is determined to be a politically exposed foreign person, a politically exposed domestic person or a head of an international organization, or a family member of, or a person who is closely associated with, one of those persons;
  2. the date of the determination; and
  3. the source, if known, of the person’s wealth.

Beneficial Ownership

The amendments will require real estate developers, brokers, and sales representatives to comply with existing beneficial ownership requirements that apply to other reporting entities.

This means when identifying an entity, a reporting entity needs to collect the following information for all Directors and individuals who own or control, directly or indirectly, 25% or more of the organization:

  • Their full legal name;
  • Their full home address; and
  • Information establishing the ownership, control, and structure of the entity.

A record of the reasonable measures to confirm the accuracy of the information, when it is first obtained and in the course of ongoing monitoring of business relationships, must be retained.

We’re Here To Help

If you would like assistance in updating your compliance program and processes, or have any questions related to the changes, please get in touch!

Regulations for Dealers in Virtual Currency – June 2020

Effective June 1, 2020, entities engaged in Virtual Currency activities are considered as Money Services Businesses (MSBs), and are required to register with FINTRAC and comply with MSB obligations under amendments made to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) that were released on July 19, 2019. Those amendments also require, as of June 1, 2021, reporting large virtual currency transactions. The Department of Finance has since made further amendments to those amended regulations, published in the Canada Gazette on June 10, 2020.

To make reading these changes a little easier, we have created a redlined version of the regulations, with the most recent changes showing as tracked changes, which can be found here.

Dealers in Virtual Currency

It’s important to start by understanding what’s being regulated. This is best done by considering some of the definitions that have been added to the regulation.

fiat currency means a currency that is issued by a country and is designated as legal tender in that country. (monnaie fiduciaire)

funds means

(a) cash and other fiat currencies, and securities, negotiable instruments or other financial instruments that indicate a title or right to or interest in them; or

(b) a private key of a cryptographic system that enables a person or entity to have access to a fiat currency other than cash.

For greater certainty, it does not include virtual currency. (fonds)

virtual currency means

(a) a digital representation of value that can be used for payment or investment purposes that is not a fiat currency and that can be readily exchanged for funds or for another virtual currency that can be readily exchanged for funds; or

(b) a private key of a cryptographic system that enables a person or entity to have access to a digital representation f value referred to in paragraph (a). (monnaie virtuelle)

virtual currency exchange transaction means an exchange, at the request of another person or entity, of virtual currency for funds, funds for virtual currency or one virtual currency for another. (opération de change en monnaie virtuelle)

In terms of who will be regulated, businesses (whether or not the business is incorporated) that conduct transactions on behalf of their customers, including:

  • Exchanging digital currencies for fiat currencies; and
  • Exchanging between virtual currencies.

Current Obligations

Client Identification:

Dealers in Virtual Currency must identify individuals and confirm the existence of entities when they:

  • Remit or transmit funds (see definition above) of $1,000 or more at the request of a customer;
  • Conduct a foreign exchange transaction of $3,000 or more;
  • Enter into an ongoing service agreement with a customer (conduct transactions for a customer that is an entity);
  • Conduct a large cash transaction; and
  • Must take reasonable measures to identify individuals who conduct or attempt to conduct a suspicious transaction.

As of June 2021, there will be an additional requirement to identify virtual currency exchange transactions valued at CAD 1,000. This will include exchanging fiat and virtual currency, as well as exchanges between virtual currencies.

Information on acceptable methods to identify clients can be found on FINTRAC’s website. 

Reporting:

For reporting, there are two important dates. By June 1, 2020, dealers in virtual currency will need to report the same types of transactions that MSBs are currently required to report. These are:

  • Electronic Funds Transfers: if you send or receive international electronic funds transfers (EFTs), including wires, valued at CAD 10,000 or more, by or on behalf of the same customer, it must be reported to FINTRAC within 5 working days.
  • Large Cash Transactions: if you receive cash (this means fiat in the form of bills and/or coins) valued at CAD 10,000 or more in the same 24-hour period, by or on behalf of the same customer, it must be reported to FINTRAC within 15 calendar days.
  • Suspicious Transactions: if there are “reasonable grounds to suspect” that a completed attempted transaction is related to money laundering or terrorist financing, it must be reported to FINTRAC “as soon as practicable” of the discovery of a fact that led you to determine that the transaction was suspicious.

FINTRAC defines “as soon as practicable” in its Glossary as follows:

A time period that falls in-between immediately and as soon as possible within which a suspicious transaction report (STR) be submitted to FINTRAC. In this context, the report must be completed promptly, taking into account the facts and circumstances of the situation. While some amount of delay is permitted, it must have a reasonable explanation. The completion and submission of the report should take priority over other tasks.

FINTRAC has released more specific guidance on what “measures” enable reporting entities to have “reasonable grounds to suspect”.

More information on suspicious transaction reporting can be found on FINTRAC’s website.

  • Terrorist Property: if you’re in possession of property (which includes funds and virtual currency) that belong to a terrorist or terrorist group, it must be reported without delay, and the property must be frozen. In addition to reporting to FINTRAC, these reports are also sent to the CSIS and RCMP – by fax. In order to know if customers fall into this category, it is important to screen against the United Nations Security Council consolidated list. We’ve worked with some friends on a tool to make this easier, which you can try here (use the code Free100 for a free trial).

If you are required to report transactions valued at CAD 10,000 or more in a 24-hour period, you must have a mechanism in place to detect reportable transactions which is described in your compliance documentation.

By June 1, 2021, a new report will be introduced:

  • Large Virtual Currency Transactions: if you receive virtual currency valued at CAD 10,000 or more in the same 24-hour period, by or on behalf of the same customer, it must be reported to FINTRAC within 5 working days.

Amendments to the Amendments

The amendments to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) that were published in the Canada Gazette on June 10, 2020 create the following obligations for dealers in Virtual Currency:

Travel Rule

One of the most significant changes that will impact Virtual Currency Dealers as MSBs relates to a new requirement for records to be kept on all virtual currency transfers of CAD 1,000 or more.

The record must contain the following:

  1. include with the transfer, the name, address and, if any, the account number or other reference number of both the person or entity that requested the transfer and the beneficiary; and
  2. take reasonable measures to ensure that any transfer received includes the information referred to in paragraph (a) above.

Where the information required was not obtained, MSBs must have written risk-based policies and procedures for determining if the transaction should be suspended, rejected, or if another follow-up measure should be taken.

PEP

In addition to the existing requirement for MSBs to take reasonable measures to determine whether a client from whom they receive an amount of CAD 100,000 or more is a Politically exposed person (PEP), the amendments will require MSBs to make a PEP determination when they establish a business relationship with a client.

A reminder that a business relationship is defined as:

If a person or entity does not have an account with you, a business relationship is formed once you have conducted two transactions or activities for which you have to:

  • verify the identity of the individual; or
  • confirm the existence of the entity.

MSBs will also periodically need to take reasonable measures to determine whether a person with whom they have a business relationship is a PEP. We will have to await guidance from FINTRAC on this, but our guess is the frequency for determination will align to the frequency for customer information and identification updates.

Given the definition of a business relationship, we do not expect this requirement to be overly burdensome. If you currently conduct list screening, PEP screening could easily be added to that process. You are also able to ask the customer directly, while presenting the definition of a PEP, and record their response.

If a positive determination is made, the following records must be kept:

  1. the office or position, and the organization or institution, in respect of which the person is determined to be a politically exposed foreign person, a politically exposed domestic person or a head of an international organization, or a family member of, or a person who is closely associated with, one of those persons;
  2. the date of the determination
  3. the source, if known, of the person’s wealth;
  4. the risk rating; and
  5. the name of the member of senior management who reviewed the client, and the date the client was approved.

Other Relevant Blog Posts for Dealers in Virtual Currency

What’s happening in the VC community? 

Messaging Standard Overview

In October 2018, the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) adopted changes to its Recommendations to explicitly clarify that they apply to financial activities involving virtual assets (VA), effectively expanding the scope of the Recommendations to apply to virtual asset service providers (VASPs) and other obliged entities that engage in or provide covered VA activities.

“There exists a need for VASPs to adopt uniform approaches and establish common standards to enable them to meet their obligations resulting from the FATF Recommendations as they apply to affected entities”.

The implementation of obligations such as the travel rule for virtual currency transactions, in the majority of cases, would require an accompanying technology. To tackle issues such as this, a cross-industry, cross-sectoral joint working group of technical experts was formed in December 2019 and a new technical standard developed by the group.  The Joint Working Group on interVASP Messaging Standards (JWG) was established  by three leading international industry associations representing VASPs:
Chamber of Digital Commerce
Global Digital Finance
International Digital Asset Exchange Association 

We will have to wait for FINTRAC guidance to see if such a standard is provided as an example.

More information on the working group can be found here.

To download a copy of the standard anonymously, use this link:

DOWNLOAD THE STANDARD

We’re Here To Help

If you would like assistance in updating your compliance program and processes, or have any questions related to the changes, please get in touch!

Amending the Amendments! 2020 AML Changes for MSBs

Background

Back on July 10, 2019, the highly anticipated final version of the amendments to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and its enacted regulations were published. However, on June 10, 2020, further amendments to those amended regulations were published in the Canada Gazette. To make reading these changes a little easier, we have created a redlined version of the regulations, with new content showing as tracked changes, which can be found here.

The purpose of this round of amendments is to better align measures with international standards and level the playing field across reporting entities by applying stronger customer due diligence requirements and beneficial ownership requirements to designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs). The amendments come into force on June 1, 2021.

We have summarized the changes that will have an impact on Money Services Businesses (MSB)s below.

Travel Rule

One of the most significant changes that will impact MSBs and Foreign Money Services Businesses (FMSB)s relates to a new requirement for records to be kept on all virtual currency transfers of CAD 1,000 or more.

The record must contain the following:

  1. include with the transfer, the name, address and, if any, the account number or other reference number of both the person or entity that requested the transfer and the beneficiary; and
  2. take reasonable measures to ensure that any transfer received includes the information referred to in paragraph (a) above.

Where the information required was not obtained, MSBs and FMSBs must have written risk-based policies and procedures for determining if the transaction should be suspended, rejected or if another follow-up measure should be taken.

PEP

In addition to the existing requirement for MSBs and FMSBs to take reasonable measures to determine whether a client from whom they receive an amount of CAD 100,000 or more is a Politically exposed person (PEP), the amendments will require MSBs and FMSBs to make a PEP determination when they establish a business relationship with a client.

A reminder that a business relationship is defined as:

If a person or entity does not have an account with you, a business relationship is formed once you have conducted two transactions or activities for which you have to:

  • verify the identity of the individual; or
  • confirm the existence of the entity.

MSBs and FMSBs will also periodically need to take reasonable measures to determine whether a person with whom they have a business relationship is a PEP. We will have to await guidance from FINTRAC on this, but our guess is the frequency for determination will align to the frequency for customer information and identification updates.

Given the definition of a business relationship, we do not expect this requirement to be overly burdensome. If you currently conduct list screening, PEP screening could easily be added to that process. You are also able to ask the customer directly, while presenting the definition of a PEP, and record their response.

If a positive determination is made, the following records must be kept:

  1. the office or position, and the organization or institution, in respect of which the person is determined to be a politically exposed foreign person, a politically exposed domestic person or a head of an international organization, or a family member of, or a person who is closely associated with, one of those persons;
  2. the date of the determination; and
  3. the source, if known, of the person’s wealth.

We’re Here To Help

If you would like assistance in updating your compliance program and processes, or have any questions related to the changes, please get in touch!

Return to Blog Listing