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Departments and agents or mandataries of His Majesty in right of Canada or of a province (Agents of the Crown)

Agents of the Crown must fulfill specific obligations as required by the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and associated Regulations to help combat money laundering and terrorist activity financing in Canada. For the purposes of the PCMLTFA, an agent of the Crown is a department or an agent of His Majesty in right of Canada or an agent or mandatary of His Majesty in right of a province that is engaged in the business of accepting deposit liabilities, or that issues, sells, or redeems money orders in the course of providing financial services to the public; or that sells precious metals to the public in an amount of $10,000 or more.

This page only describes the obligations under the PCMLTFA of agents of the Crown that issue, sell or redeem money orders in the course of providing financial services to the public. If you are an agent of the Crown that accepts deposit liabilities in the course of providing financial services to the public, your obligations can be found on the Financial entities sector page. If you are an agent of the Crown that sells precious metals to the public in an amount of $10,000 or more, your obligations can be found on the Dealers in precious metals and precious stones sector page.

Agents of the Crown are responsible for the following requirements under the PCMLTFA and associated Regulations.

Summary of requirements for agents of the Crown

Compliance program

Agents of the Crown must implement a compliance program. A strong compliance program will form the basis of meeting all your regulatory requirements.

Know your client

Agents of the Crown must verify the identity of persons and entities for certain activities and transactions, and carry out other customer due diligence activities, as described below:

When to verify the identity of persons and entities

Agents of the Crown must verify the identity of persons or entities for certain transactions and activities.

Methods to verify the identity of persons and entities

Agents of the Crown must verify the identity of persons and entities using the methods prescribed by the PCMLTFA and associated Regulations.


Business relationship requirements

Agents of the Crown enter into a business relationship with a client the second time they are required to verify the identity of that client.


Ongoing monitoring requirements

Agents of the Crown have ongoing monitoring requirements when they enter into a business relationship with a client.


Beneficial ownership requirements

Agents of the Crown must obtain and take reasonable measures to confirm the accuracy of beneficial ownership information for entities.


Third party determination requirements

Agents of the Crown have third party determination requirements when they are required to submit certain reports and keep certain records.


Politically exposed persons (PEP) and heads of international organizations (HIO) requirements

Agents of the Crown are required to take reasonable measures to make PEP and HIO determinations for certain activities or transactions. If an agent of the Crown determines that a person is a PEP or a HIO then they have additional related requirements.

Transaction reporting

Agents of the Crown must submit the following reports to FINTRAC:


Terrorist Property Reports



Large Virtual Currency Transaction Reports


24-hour rule

British Columbia notaries have 24-hour rule requirements for Large Cash Transaction Reports and Large Virtual Currency Transaction Reports


Sanctions evasion

Record keeping

Agents of the Crown must keep certain records, including records related to transactions and client identification.

Ministerial directives

Ministerial directive requirements apply to all reporting entity sectors.

Penalties for non-compliance

FINTRAC has the legislative authority to issue administrative monetary penalties (AMPs) to reporting entities that are found to be non-compliant with the PCMLTFA and associated Regulations. For more information, see Penalties for non-compliance.

Glossary

The FINTRAC Guidance glossary includes terminology defined in the PCMLTFA and associated Regulations, as well as terms used throughout the guidance. For more information, see FINTRAC's Guidance Glossary.

Date Modified: