{"id":543851,"date":"2026-03-18T05:14:18","date_gmt":"2026-03-18T05:14:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/543851\/"},"modified":"2026-03-18T05:14:18","modified_gmt":"2026-03-18T05:14:18","slug":"latest-canadas-fintrac-takes-down-23-crypto-linked-msbs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/543851\/","title":{"rendered":"LATEST: Canada\u2019s FINTRAC takes down 23 crypto-linked MSBs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By PAUL O\u2019DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent<\/p>\n<p class=\"has-drop-cap\">FINTRAC, Canada\u2019s financial intelligence unit, has revoked the registrations of 23 money services businesses (MSBs), all linked to crypto services.<\/p>\n<p>The agency said the action removes the firms\u2019 legal ability to operate in Canada. It can revoke an MSB\u2019s status if a firm fails to meet regulatory requirements. <\/p>\n<p>Canada\u2019s finance minister, Fran\u00e7ois-Philippe Champagne, said the action reflects a broader push to address risks linked to digital assets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cOur government will continue to monitor and pursue new measures to address risks posed by virtual currency businesses\u2026 which can be used to facilitate money laundering and fraud,\u201d <a href=\"https:\/\/www.canada.ca\/en\/department-finance\/news\/2026\/03\/statement-by-the-minister-of-finance-on-canadas-progress-combatting-money-laundering.html\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">he said<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Potential issues for MSBs include not responding to information requests and updating business details. Firms may also lose registration if they have prior convictions for money laundering, terrorist financing, or other offences.<\/p>\n<p>Two of the affected firms had no physical presence in Canada. Finax operates from Bratislava, Slovakia while Commerce Plex is based in Luton, England. Both also provide foreign exchange and money transfer services.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMoney laundering is a serious crime that threatens the integrity of Canada\u2019s financial system,\u201d Mr Champagne said.<\/p>\n<p>He added that the government is increasing enforcement and transparency through FINTRAC.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cToday alone, there have been 23 revocations of money services businesses (MSBs) registrations, a requirement for these businesses to operate legally in Canada, as we continue to step up our focus on this issue,\u201d Champagne said. \u201cThis represents a significantly increased pace of action, and our government will maintain this momentum.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/03\/phone-tablet-desktop.png\" alt=\"AML Intelligence\"\/>We hope you enjoyed reading this article<\/p>\n<p class=\"amlpmp-content-message__description\">If you would like unlimited access to AML Intelligence premium articles, newsletter delivered twice a week, access to our Global Bank Fines and Penalties database, free access to Boardroom Series events and much more, select one of our subscription options and become a subscriber!<\/p>\n<p><a class=\"amlpmp-content-message__button amlpmp-content-message__button--primary\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amlintelligence.com\/membership-account\/membership-levels\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">View subscription options<\/a><a class=\"amlpmp-content-message__button amlpmp-content-message__button--transparent\" href=\"https:\/\/www.amlintelligence.com\/login\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">If you have an account, log in<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"By PAUL O\u2019DONOGHUE, Senior Correspondent FINTRAC, Canada\u2019s financial intelligence unit, has revoked the registrations of 23 money services&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":543852,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[49,48,37770,212142,44],"class_list":["post-543851","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-canada","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-crypto","tag-fintrac","tag-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543851","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543851"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543851\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/543852"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543851"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543851"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543851"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}