Canada’s FINTRAC Revokes Registrations of Crypto-Related Firms
- Canada’s Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) has revoked the registrations of a total of 50 money services businesses (MSBs) in the current year, with 47 linked to cryptocurrency.
- On Monday, FINTRAC revoked an additional 23 MSB registrations, which have a review period of 30 days for appeal.
- Minister of Finance François-Philippe Champagne emphasized that these actions are part of a broader initiative to combat money laundering and increase compliance transparency.
- The Financial Action Task Force estimates that between 2% to 5% of global GDP is laundered through traditional financial systems, compared to less than 1% for crypto transactions according to Chainalysis.
- Recent fines include $126 million against Cryptomus for failing to report suspicious activities and $14 million against KuCoin for registration failures with FINTRAC.
FINTRAC’s increased enforcement actions reflect a commitment to addressing risks associated with virtual currency businesses, particularly those facilitating money laundering and fraud. The recent revocation of registrations highlights the government’s intensified scrutiny on cryptocurrency operations within Canada.
With the revocation of registrations from nearly all MSBs this year being related to crypto, it underscores the ongoing regulatory focus on this sector as part of anti-money laundering efforts. (Source)
