Money Laundering

Canada’s banks are leaders in the fight against money laundering. Their accomplishments in this area include:

• Being the first industry in Canada to voluntarily report suspicious financial transactions to the RCMP, which has been happening for over a decade; and
• Being the first industry in Canada to advocate that money laundering be designated a crime.

The CBA and its members work in co-operation with the Government of Canada, law enforcement agencies, and other partners, to implement effective anti-terrorism and anti-money laundering measures.

Our main concern is to help deter and report criminal and terrorist activity, while protecting the privacy of law-abiding customers, and ensuring the integrity of the banking system in Canada.

The banking industry is very supportive of efforts to prevent money laundering and has devoted considerable resources to comply with the regulations of Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act that came into effect on June 12, 2002. The regulations require that financial institutions:

• Collect the date of birth and occupation of all individuals (and signing officers on business accounts) when a new bank account is opened. They must also take reasonable measures to determine if an account will be used by or on behalf of someone other than the person opening the account.
• Record the following information when processing a transaction for a person who does not have an account with that financial institution: name, address, date of birth, and the type of identification that was presented.
• Automatically report certain electronics funds transfers of $10,000 or more sent into or out of Canada to the Financial Transactions Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC).

In addition to regulatory requirements to detect and report assets suspected of relating to a money laundering or terrorism — United Nations Suppression of Terrorism Regulations and The Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act — Canada’s banks are working in collaboration with the RCMP to share information and best practices on suspected terrorist financing activity.