Although Canadian financial institutions have collectively invested millions of dollars to shield themselves from bad actors, little evidence exists that their efforts are paying off, according to Milos Barutciski, a board member of Transparency International Canada.
Black-market tobacco, market fraud, bribery and the exploitation by criminal networks of third-party professionals are among the biggest threats to Canada's efforts to fight money laundering, according to a national report.
Canadian financial institutions will soon need to amend how they identify clients with political ties and assess risks associated with new technologies, under regulatory proposals by the Department of Finance.
Canada's highest court will determine whether attorneys must retain client data for regulatory purposes and whether the nation's financial intelligence unit can retain and share such records following onsite searches.
Canada's financial watchdogs outlined their expectations and priorities Monday, clarifying a policy that previously gave banks a warning one month in advance of pending regulatory examinations.
Canadian compliance officers at banks and non-bank institutions are bracing themselves for broad changes to their anti-money laundering obligations ahead of the country's next evaluation by an international watchdog group.
Disclosures by Canada's financial regulator of suspected money laundering and other crimes have more than tripled in recent years even as the number of suspicious transaction reports filed annually by banks has fallen.
Since gaining penalty powers nearly three years ago, Canada's financial intelligence unit is shifting its focus from training financial institutions about compliance duties to penalizing those that haven't complied quickly enough.
In the world of financial compliance, Canada "talks a good game" but does little to enforce counter-terrorism financing and anti-money laundering regulations, according to Chris Mathers, a Toronto-based consultant.
Canada's financial intelligence unit, which has been criticized for failing to effectively enforce the nation's anti-money laundering laws, is being new granted powers to levy money penalties against offending institutions.
The Canadian government has published final rules extending the country's anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing laws to certain notaries, jewelers and the legal profession. The new rules also outline penalty guidelines for money laundering violations.