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What to Expect When FINTRAC Comes Knocking

Written with Heidi Unrau

FINTRAC’s New Assessment Approach – It’s Not Just Exams Anymore

Every request, meeting, form, or call with the Financial Transaction and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), Canada’s anti-money laundering (AML) regulator and financial intelligence unit (FIU), is a potential assessment activity. If your business is subject to the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA), the regulator could contact you at any time. In 2025, FINTRAC significantly expanded and diversified its compliance assessment toolkit.

FINTRAC’s assessment activities are not limited to full-blown compliance examinations, and the regulator is increasingly using other assessment tools. These include a wider range of formal and informal touchpoints, each of which can carry consequences and should be taken seriously. Here’s what you need to know to prepare, respond, and stay one step ahead when FINTRAC contacts you.

Yes, These Are All Assessment Activities

Many organizations are surprised to learn that not every FINTRAC interaction is labelled as an “examination,” although a range of activities are used to assess FINTRAC reporting entities. While some of these activities may be more informal than examinations, they are not unimportant.

In 2025, common FINTRAC assessment activities include, but are not limited to:

A woman peeking out from behind a stack of folders on a desk.

Data Hide and Seek

  • Information Requests
  • Supervisory Risk Assessment Questionnaires (SRAQs)
  • Compliance Self-Attestations
  • Monitoring Meetings
  • Action Plans
  • Examinations

Each of these activities serves as an opportunity for FINTRAC to understand and evaluate how well your organization is meeting its AML compliance obligations. Responding late, incorrectly, or incompletely can impact your risk score, trigger follow-up activities including examinations, or even result in penalties.

Information Requests

FINTRAC can request a wide range of information from reporting entities related to AML compliance. Where no personal information (PI) is being requested, these requests may be delivered by email rather than by more secure channels such as Canada Post’s secure messaging system.

However, reporting entities that prefer to respond via a secure channel can request this, and FINTRAC will generally accommodate their request. If an information request is unclear or if the timeframes are not feasible for your business, it is important to contact FINTRAC as soon as possible to resolve the issue.

Supervisory Risk Assessment Questionnaires (SRAQs)

SRAQs are Excel forms sent through Canada Post’s secure platform, often after a call or meeting with FINTRAC to explain the process. They include detailed questions about your business structure, risk levels, and electronic funds transfers.

Some fields may be pre-filled by FINTRAC, but must be reviewed. The SRAQ will generally have questions about your risk assessment, and you may be asked whether your risk assessment aligns with Canada’s National Risk Assessment (NRA).

Compliance Self-Attestations

These detailed PDF forms are also delivered securely, either with a SRAQ or on their own, and may follow a call or meeting with FINTRAC to explain the process. The self-attestation form asks about your Compliance Officer, AML policies and procedures, risk assessment, training, and compliance effectiveness reviews (audits). The responses must be specific (tailored to your business, documentation, and processes), and questions often overlap with the SRAQ.

The self-attestation questionnaire commonly asks who approved your policies, and whether compliance effectiveness reviews (audits) led to action plans. The final section of the attestation form requires sign-off from the person completing it, attesting to the accuracy and completeness of the information provided.

Monitoring Meetings

Monitoring meetings are common for larger or higher-risk businesses and are used to follow up on issues like reporting errors, self-declared non-compliance, or action plan progress. Be ready to explain past issues and decisions, particularly where FINTRAC is actively monitoring the remediation of an issue, including deficiencies observed by FINTRAC through examinations or other assessment activities. Detailed records help keep these meetings focused and efficient.

Action Plans

FINTRAC may request an action plan to correct deficiencies observed in the course of its assessment activities, or subsequent to a voluntary self-declaration of non-compliance. An action plan describes the deficiencies, the steps that are being taken to address and correct the issues, and the expected timelines. In some cases, FINTRAC may request updates to action plans in conjunction with monitoring meetings.

Examinations

FINTRAC selects businesses for examinations based on factors like risk score, past findings, or industry trends. Examinations may be in-person or remote, and full-scope (covering a broad range of AML compliance requirements) or targeted (covering only a narrow scope, such as high-risk customers and enhanced due diligence activities).

The examination process generally begins with a notification call, followed by a formal letter, document review, interviews, and concludes with a findings report. As PI and other sensitive information is exchanged with FINTRAC in this process, written communication is usually through Canada Post’s secure online portal. If serious deficiencies are discovered, FINTRAC may issue a Notice of Violation, which accompanies an administrative monetary penalty (AMP).

Take Every Request Seriously, The Consequences Are Real

A single poorly handled request can escalate to a formal examination or enforcement action, up to and including an AMP. For example:

  • Information Requests might ask for detailed operational data, like wallet addresses, transaction volumes, geographic reach, etc., that must be provided within specific timeframes.
  • SRAQs and Self-Attestations often probe the strength and scope of your compliance program, training, policies, and controls.
  • Monitoring Meetings may seem routine, but they serve as real-time evaluations of progress or issues.

Even if you think your compliance program is strong, you can’t rest on your laurels. Giving too much, too little, or the wrong kind of information can still cause problems.

Timing & Scope Matter, So Speak Up Early

One of the most preventable mistakes? Not raising concerns early. If you receive a request that:

  • Requires more time than you realistically have
  • Involves an impractical volume of data
  • Touches on sensitive or operationally risky areas (like sending wallet addresses via unencrypted email, for example)
  • Is unclear or difficult to fulfill, or
  • Seems misaligned with your actual business structure…

Reach out to FINTRAC right away! They may allow accommodations like a secure file upload option or deadline extensions. FINTRAC  will also be able to clarify or refine the scope of their request, but you have to ask early. Proactive communication helps avoid mistakes and shows a good-faith effort to comply.

Documentation is Protection

Formal or informal? It doesn’t matter. If you interact with FINTRAC, document everything:

  • The requests received and your interpretations,
  • Deadlines and communication
  • What data you provided and how
  • Who internally approved or reviewed the responses

Keep a central record, like a shared folder or internal compliance log, to track all relevant information. Where there is something unusual about your business or processes, consider whether or not it makes sense to include explanations either in writing or during a meeting with FINTRAC.

Common Errors to Avoid

These are the biggest issues that trip up even experienced teams:

  • Not answering the question asked: Too much or too little detail can both be problematic, and providing information that doesn’t address the question makes you seem disorganized at best.
  • Assuming foreign compliance standards apply: FINTRAC’s mandate is to ensure compliance with Canadian requirements, and straying from this focus can imply that you’re not well-versed when it comes to the Canadian AML framework.
  • Underestimating the data lift: Raw data is often messier and harder to extract than expected. Plan accordingly and start pulling data and organizing your response early.
  • Auditor independence: If your auditor is also your AML program creator, expect scrutiny for lack of independence.

Make an Action Plan, Even if You’re Not Asked

There is some variance in terms of whether or not action plans are requested after FINTRAC examinations. Today, they’re becoming an unspoken expectation, though you may not be asked for your action plan until the next time that you’re faced with an assessment activity. Best practice? Develop an internal action plan, even if  FINTRAC doesn’t ask for one. Examiners, auditors, and your leadership team will expect to see how you’ve addressed gaps. Your action plan should:

  • Outline findings and fixes
  • Assign owners and timelines
  • Track milestones and updates

If you’ve already had an examination or audit and didn’t document an action plan, it’s not too late. Your plan can include work already completed to address any deficiencies.

Is This Really From FINTRAC? How to Tell

Some recent FINTRAC requests look different from what businesses are used to, which has caused confusion. And to make matters worse, there have been documented cases of scammers impersonating FINTRAC and other regulators. Here’s how to tell if the request is legitimate:

  • Check the Sender: Legit emails come from @fintrac-canafe.gc.ca or @fintrac-canafe.canada.ca.
  • Look for legal references: Real requests often cite the PCMLTFA (for example, section 63.1(2) of the PCMLTFA).
  • Expect formal language: Clear instructions, deadlines, and specific data requests are standard.
  • Templates included: FINTRAC may attach Excel or PDF forms to complete. These will not be in a “zipped” format or other format that cannot be scanned for malicious elements.
  • No contact name? Still valid: Some are signed by the team or department without a specific person named.
  • Delivery method: Sensitive items may come through Canada Post’s secure epost system, but where this is the case, reporting entities will generally receive a phone call first.

If you’re unsure, don’t ignore it. Verify through FINTRAC’s official contact channels, not by replying to a suspicious email.

Final Reminder: Treat Every Touchpoint as an Evaluation

A call. An email. A simple questionnaire or data request. It’s all part of a broader assessment process. These activities carry weight, can impact your risk profile, and may lead to further scrutiny if not handled correctly.

Treat every request seriously and respond with care. If something is unclear, the scope seems off, or if you need more time, speak up early! Proactive communication prevents misunderstandings and protects your organization from costly consequences.

Need a Hand?

If you’re unsure how to interpret a request, need help crafting a response, or want to strengthen your overall compliance approach, Outlier Compliance Group is here to help. 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.

Are Your Business Relationship Records Ready for FINTRAC?

This article is focused on business relationships that are not account-based (which means that if you are a financial institution or a securities dealer that only conducts transactions with your customers in the context of the accounts that they hold with you, you can skip this one).

Over the past few months, I have assisted some of my clients with their Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) examinations.  While I cannot generally answer questions on my clients’ behalf during these meetings, I can help them prepare for the examination, understand what the examiner is asking for, and redirect them if they stray off track (provided that they have signed an Authorizing_or_Cancelling_a_Representative form). While the businesses examined were quite different in size and complexity, their examinations have been similar, particularly when it came to questions about business relationships.  

For certain types of reporting entities, including money services businesses (MSBs), real estate businesses, and dealers in precious metals and stones (DPMSs) (which are the focus of this article), during each on-site review, the FINTRAC examiner requested a list of all the “Business Relationships” for the review period. Certain information was requested, which was the same in each instance, and included the following:

  • The purpose and intended nature of the business relationship (sometimes called PINBR for short);
  • The risk rating;
  • The date the reporting entity entered into a business relationship with the customer; 
  • The records of any ongoing monitoring (or enhanced measures for high risk business relationships) that has been conducted; and 
  • The last time the customer information was reviewed/updated.

In most cases, this information was not requested in advance.  This meant that it needed to be provided to the examiner while the examiner was on-site (typically a single business day).  For some reporting entities, obtaining this information was not something that their recordkeeping systems were set up to do easily.

Quick Review – What is a Business Relationship?

The Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Regulations (PCMLTFR) defines a Business Relationship as:

Any relationship with a client, established by a person or entity, to conduct financial transactions or provide services related to those transactions and, as the case may be,

(a) If the client holds one or more accounts with that person or entity, all transactions and activities relating to those accounts; or

(b) If the client does not hold an account, only those transactions and activities in respect of which that person or entity is required to ascertain the identity of a person or confirm the existence of an entity under these Regulations.

If you’re not entirely certain what that means, FINTRAC’s guidance on Business Relationship Requirements provides additional clarification:

You enter into a Business Relationship when you conduct two or more transactions where you have to:

    1. ID an individual; or
    2. Confirm the existence of an organization.

Specifically, conducting the following transactions or activities that require you to identify an individual or confirm the existence of an entity:

  • Remittances or transmissions of $1,000 or more (for MSBs);
  • Foreign currency exchange of $3,000 or more (for MSBs);
  • Issuing or redeeming negotiable instruments of $3,000 or more (for MSBs);
  • Large cash transactions (for all reporting entity types);
  • Suspicious transactions and attempted suspicious transactions (for all reporting entity types);
  • Activities which trigger a receipt of funds record (for Real Estate);
  • Virtual currency exchange transactions of $1,000 or more (for MSBs as of June 1, 2020);
  • Large Virtual Currency Transactions Reports (for all reporting entities as of June 1, 2020); and
  • Activities which trigger the creation of a client information record (it’s probably worth mentioning here that these will also trigger a third party determination):
    • Entering into an ongoing service agreement with a customer that is an entity (for MSBs); and/or
    • Entering into a purchase or sale agreement (for Real Estate).

In its simplest form, a business relationship means that a client or customer has done two things that cause identification requirements to be triggered.

Business Relationship Recordkeeping & Monitoring

When you establish a Business Relationship with a customer, you have three things to do.  

First, determine and record the “purpose and intended nature” of the Business Relationship. Some examples provided in the FINTRAC guidance are: 

For MSBs:

  • Foreign exchange for travel or purchase of goods; 
  • Funds transfers for family support or purchase of goods; 
  • Buying/cashing money orders or traveller’s cheques; 

For Real Estate businesses:

  • Purchasing or selling residential property;
  • Purchasing or selling commercial property;
  • Purchase or selling land for commercial use;

For DPMSs:

  • Purchasing or selling jewellery;
  • Purchasing or selling precious metals (for example, gold, silver, platinum, or palladium); and
  • Purchasing or selling precious stones (for example, diamonds, sapphires, emeralds, tanzanite, rubies, or alexandrite).

Next, you need to conduct ongoing monitoring of all Business Relationships, based on the level of risk.  This seems to be where the biggest stumbling blocks are for reporting entities. The purpose of ongoing monitoring is to ensure the following:

  • Detect any transactions that need to be reported as suspicious;
  • Keep identification and beneficial ownership information, as well as the purpose and intended nature records, up-to-date;
  • Reassess the risk level based on their transactions and activities; and 
  • Determine if the transactions make sense given the nature and purpose recorded.

It is not enough just to conduct the monitoring, you must be able to produce some type of record that proves that you’ve done the monitoring. The record should be specific about what was done, and what conclusions were drawn.

If there is something out of the ordinary, expect that the FINTRAC examiner will ask questions. For example, if a customer has indicated that the purpose and intended nature of the business relationship is “fund transfer for family support” but it is clear that payments are being made that are related to the purchase of goods, questions will be raised. It is expected that information about the purpose and intended nature of the business relationship is updated if it has changed – and that you will ask questions when the actual transaction patterns are different than what you expected.

It is this final step, keeping a record of the measures taken to monitor your business relationships and the information you obtain as a result, that is most crucial to successful examination results. 

The additional information collected about the customer is used to compare your expectations for that relationship, with the transactions that customer is conducting.  

Here are a few examples, broken down by industry:

MSBs

If the nature and purpose provided was foreign exchange for travel, does it make sense that the customer returns every other day with $2,700 in cash?   

DPMSs

If the nature and purpose provided was purchasing jewellery as a wedding gift, does it make sense that the customer returns every month on the same day to make a new purchase?

Real Estate

If the nature and purpose provided was the purchase of a first-time owner-occupied home, does it make sense that the customer purchases another owner-occupied home shortly after?  

In each of the scenarios above, it is quite clear that the activities don’t align with the nature and purpose of the business relationship collected. This doesn’t automatically make it suspicious, but certainly leaves some questions that need answering. When you question the customer about the discrepancy, be sure you’re taking notes.  This does not have to be a complete reiteration (though it can be), but simply a brief synopsis of the conversation, any additional information collected and/or adjustments made to the customer’s risk rating. It should be written in a way that would be clear to someone from outside of your business that is reading the notes two years later.

Recording these types of discussions is paramount to evidence that you’re meeting your ongoing monitoring obligations because, in the compliance world, if you can’t prove it… it never happened.

FINTRAC Exam Readiness Tool for Business Relationships

We’ve made a quick checklist to help you prepare for your FINTRAC examinations.

Question Response & Action Plan
Can I generate a list of my business relationships for the examination period?
Is there a risk rating recorded for each business relationship?
Do I have evidence of ongoing monitoring being conducted?
Do I have evidence of enhanced due diligence and enhanced transaction monitoring for high risk business relationships?
Do I have the date of when I entered in the business relationship with each customer?
Is there a record of the last time the customer information was reviewed and/or updated?

 

Need a Hand?

Outlier has created a FINTRAC Examination Preparation Package, and it can be downloaded for free here.  FINTRAC has also provided information on their assessment manual, which details the approach and methods it uses to conduct compliance examinations. 

For additional information, assistance, or a review of your FINTRAC Examination submission package (the information requested by FINTRAC for an examination), 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.  At Outlier, we firmly believe that good compliance is good business.

Is Your MSB Ready for a FINTRAC Exam?

Rodney_MSB2
We get a lot of questions about examinations conducted by the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC). While we’re happy to be able to help our customers in their examinations (you can check out our free resources for FINTRAC exams here), the responsibility during the examination will rest with the money services business (MSB), mainly with the MSB’s Compliance Officer.

FINTRAC’s expectations have changed dramatically, since MSB’s were first required to comply with the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and its enacted regulations. In 2015, we noticed that there was a dramatic shift in focus of MSB examinations. FINTRAC’s examiners were much more interested in detailed procedures (documents that describe how MSBs are complying with the PCMLTFA and regulations), and the Risk Based Approach.

One of the most important things that MSBs can do to ensure that their AML compliance programs are up to date, and at the same time, prepare for FINTRAC examinations, is to read FINTRAC’s published guidance. Two important guidance topics published in 2015 are, the Risk-Based Approach Guide (this guide describes what is the risk-based approach) and the Risk-Based Approach Workbook for MSBs (this workbook is for MSBs looking to implement a risk-based approach). While guidance published by FINTRAC doesn’t carry the weight of law or regulation, it does provide valuable insight about FINTRAC’s expectations.

Another excellent source of information is FINTRAC’s published Policy Interpretations. These are FINTRAC’s official answers to questions asked by MSBs and other reporting entities.

In Person & Desk Examinations

Whether the FINTRAC exam is in person or desk (conducted by phone) examinations, 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.

If you do not speak English and/or French fluently, we highly recommend that you have a person present who can translate questions and responses for you.

If you are not certain what the examiner is asking for, you should always ask for clarification before answering.

For in person examinations, do not invite the examiner to have a pint, lunch or even a coffee. FINTRAC has very strict policies around bribery, to the extent that if I am out socially with an acquaintance who works for FINTRAC, I cannot pay for their tea. It may feel a little bit “over the top”, not to be able to extend these courtesies, but don’t be offended – it’s not you, it’s policy.

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 and your customers; and
  • Anything significant that has changed since your last FINTRAC examination.

This synopsis must be very brief. If there is anything that is complex, it should be included as an explanation in your initial package (preferably in a simplified chart form – for example an ownership structure chart).

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.

Part 1 – FINTRAC MSB Registration

In this part, FINTRAC will go through your MSB registration field by field and confirm that the information is accurate. The most common errors that we have seen are:

  • Not listing a trade name/operating name;
  • Not listing all relevant locations;
  • Listing bank accounts that are inactive or not listing bank accounts that are active;
  • Not including MSB or agent relationships (either buying from or selling to another MSB);
  • Incomplete ownership information; and
  • Senior Management and/or Compliance Officer information, that is out of date.

Although it is not technically part of the registration, some examiners will ask about the Compliance Officer’s responsibilities/duties at this stage.

Failure to update the MSB registration in the “prescribed form and manner” is the single most common deficiency for MSBs from 2008 to the present, accounting for deficiencies in 61% of examinations (according to FINTRAC data released in 2015).

Part 2 – Compliance Policies & Procedures

In 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 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).
  • 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.

Part 3 – Risk Assessment

In 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.

Part 4 – Operational Compliance & Reporting

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

  • A reportable transaction (generally an electronic funds transfer or EFT) was reported by another reporting entity;
  • 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 yes, 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); and
  • Business relationships and ongoing monitoring (in particular, if this did not occur earlier in the examination).

During a desk examination, the examiners 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.

The examiner will let you know when to expect a formal letter (generally within 30 days of the end of an examination).

After the Examination

You will receive a formal letter that details FINTRAC’s findings, as well as whether or not an Administrative Monetary penalty (AMP) is being recommended. In the case that there is a potential penalty, we recommend taking action as soon as possible). In most cases, FINTRAC does not require MSBs to submit an action plan (but your bank might still require that you do this, and it’s a good idea to keep a record of the actions that you’ve taken to correct any deficiencies).

Need a Hand?

If you are an MSB that needs compliance assistance preparing for an FINTRAC exam, remediating findings, or setting up an AML compliance program, please contact us.

Unpublished FINTRAC Penalties

Jonathan Krumins, Vice President, vCAMLO

Today’s guest blogger is Jonathan Krumins, Vice-President, AML Risk & Compliance, at vCAMLO Solutions Inc. vCAMLO provides anti-money laundering (AML) and anti-terrorist financing (ATF) support to Canadian credit unions. You can learn more about vCAMLO at www.vcamlo.ca.

Background

Reporting entities (REs) often ask us about penalties, in particular when they are published publicly. Since 2009, The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) has issued Administrative Monetary Penalties (AMPs) against persons and entities that were found to have violated the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act, and its associated Regulations. In many cases up to 2013, FINTRAC has published details on its website about each penalty, including the name of the person or entity, the dollar amount of the AMP, as well as the cited deficiencies. The AMP area of their website has two sections – a list of all published penalties, as well as a running total of AMPs imposed since December 30, 2008, divided by sector.

As of June 26, 2013, FINTRAC changed its policy regarding public notice of AMPs, so that they would be published if one or more of the following criteria are met:

  • The person or entity has committed a very serious violation; or
  • The base penalty amount is equal to or greater than $250,000, before adjustments are made in consideration of the person or entity’s compliance history and ability to pay; or
  • Repeat significant non-compliance on the part of the person or entity.

AMPs can only be published once the appeals process is exhausted, which can take years to complete. This process can include an appeal to FINTRAC’s director, and a subsequent appeal to the Canadian Federal court.

Understanding this context is vital for RE Compliance Officers. While trend information related to published and unpublished penalties is not likely of interest to frontline staff, understanding these patterns is useful in fielding questions from Senior Management and the Board of Directors.

We have conducted an analysis of data published on the FINTRAC’s website which shows a trend of an increasing number of unpublished AMPs since 2013. These unpublished AMPs were primarily imposed on the Credit Union/Caisse Populaire and Money Service Business (MSB) sectors.

Methodology

We have made all calculations using information available as of April 20, 2015. We examined publicly available information on FINTRAC’s webpage, using the running total of AMPs by sector and the list of public AMPs. We also examined a summary of AMPs as of October 2014 obtained by Outlier through an Access to Information request. Our analysis focuses only on the sectors that have received AMPs, either published or unpublished: Credit Unions (including Caisses Populaires), MSBs, Real Estate Brokers, Securities Dealers and Casinos.

In addition, we accessed “cached” versions of FINTRAC’s website to review past versions in order to include six public AMPs that were issued between August 19, 2009 and April 26, 2010. In accordance with FINTRAC policy, these were removed from FINTRAC’s website after the five year public notice period had expired. We have included this historical data in order to provide a full view of the penalties issued. It is noteworthy that there are likely additional penalties in the process of being appealed (this information cannot be made available until the appeals process is complete).

Published AMPs vs. Unpublished AMPs

By analyzing the list of published penalties, compared to the running total of AMPs, it appears that there have been a significant number of unpublished penalties:

FINTRAC AMPs

Credit Unions

Credit Unions have received the largest number of unpublished penalties, both in terms of number and dollar amount. Credit unions have received 3 published AMPs, totalling $246,690. They have also received an additional 11 unpublished AMPs, totalling $405,855.

Trend analysis: This appears to be a significant increase in overall enforcement action by FINTRAC in the Credit Union sector. The total number of penalties against Credit Unions have increased sharply to 14, which means that Credit Unions now have the second largest number of listed AMPs (published and unpublished), behind MSBs. All penalties against Credit Unions since 2013 were unpublished. This data can also be interpreted to mean that FINTRAC’s enforcement efforts against Credit Unions have increased since 2013, however it is important to remember that AMPs are listed on FINTRAC’s website after they are finalized, which can mean a significant gap between when an AMP was issued and when it is listed, especially if there is an appeal involved.

Money Service Businesses (MSBs)

MSBs have received 22 published penalties, totalling $527,510. They also have received eight unpublished penalties, totalling $68,520. Interestingly, a $12,880 penalty that was published against an MSB on July 11, 2013 no longer appears on FINTRAC’s website.

Trend analysis: MSBs continue to be the leading sector in terms of receiving AMPs, although similar to the other sectors examined, the majority of AMPs that were against MSBs from late 2013 through to 2015 were unpublished.

Real Estate Brokers

Real Estate Brokers have received three published penalties totalling $40,520 compared to three unpublished penalties totalling $25,960.

Trend Analysis: Real Estate Brokers have received relatively few published and unpublished penalties in comparison to the Credit Union and MSB sectors. The number of unpublished penalties (compared to the number of published penalties) is consistent with trends across all sectors.

Securities Dealers

Securities Dealers have received four published penalties totalling $565,180 compared to one unpublished penalty of $21,480.

Trend Analysis: Securities Dealers have received relatively few published and unpublished penalties in comparison to the Credit Union and MSB sectors.

Casinos

Casinos have never received a published AMP, however FINTRAC’s website shows an unpublished AMP of $56,700 issued against a casino. This may be surprising to anyone that has read about BC Lottery Corporation, however, AMPs are not part of these records until the appeals process has been exhausted (and there have been successful appeals).

Trend analysis: It is difficult to establish a trend based on a single data point, however this unpublished AMP shows that the Casino sector is no longer unaffected by FINTRAC penalties.

What Does This All Mean?

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Note: The dates on the above graph represent when FINTRAC’s website was analyzed to calculate the total number of penalties, with the exception of October 2014, which is the “as of” date of an AMP listing received in a Freedom of Information request. Data for unpublished AMPs is only available since 2013.

As of June 2013, FINTRAC began to apply the updated standard for publicly listing AMPs. Since this change, unpublished penalties comprise approximately 42% of all issued AMPs by amount and 43% by number. While this is excellent news for REs that are concerned with the negative media and other reputational risk related to published penalties, it will make it more difficult to assess the reasons that REs are receiving penalties. The specific violations that led to a penalty are only made public by FINTRAC when the AMP is published. In order to ensure that our Credit Union clients are well-informed about industry trends related to penalties, vCAMLO will be requesting additional information and performing trend analysis. Stay tuned!

Your Best Defence

To avoid AMPs, it is essential to constantly test for weaknesses in your compliance regime. Conduct rigorous effectiveness testing (this is required at least every two years), and consider more frequent testing. Finally, ensure that immediate steps are taken to remediate deficiencies received in FINTRAC exams. Deficiencies that re-appear in follow-up exams are taken seriously by FINTRAC, and can lead to penalties, published or not.

Need a Hand?

vCAMLO: If you are a credit union or MSB, and have any questions related to financial compliance, or if you are interested in AML Support Services, please contact us for a complimentary 30 minute compliance discussion.

Outlier: If you need assistance reviewing your technology solution or FINTRAC reporting to be certain that you’re meeting the standard described in this blog, or just someone to chat with to make sure that you’re on the right track, please contact us.

 

 

 

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