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Risky business: Non-compliance with anti-money laundering requirements

Learn about important changes brought to the anti-money laundering and terrorist financing (AML/ATF) legislation and the Criminal Code to deter non-compliance by all reporting entity sectors, including accountants and accounting firms.

The risks and consequences of non-compliance in the AML/ATF landscape have increased in intensity since 2019, when important changes were brought to the AML/ATF legislation and the Criminal Code. Here are the three important factors in the AML/ATF landscape that have increased the risks and consequences of non-compliance: 

  • the scope of regulatory changes associated with the AML/ATF legislation that have come into force since 2019 and, for accountants and accounting firms especially, the changes that have now come into force on June 1, 2021
  • the issuance and publication of an administrative monetary penalty for a violation of the AML/ATF legislation
  • the change of the definition to Section 462.31 of the Criminal Code that now lowers the threshold for law enforcement and prosecutors to pursue money-laundering charges by adding a “recklessness” provision to the definition of money laundering

Key takeaways: 

  • penalty ranges for different categories of violations
  • what FINTRAC’s assessment manual indicates on voluntary self-declarations of non-compliance
  • how “recklessness” is defined under the new subsection of the criminal code 

Reading time: Approximately 15 minutes