Foreign Affairs and International Trade Canada
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Institutional Links
Money Laundering
Canada is active in the international fight against money laundering, mainly through the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) on money laundering, established in 1989 by the G7. Membership has grown to 31 nations, most from the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Over the years, the FATF has made recommendations to guide states to strengthen their financial systems. The FATF's 40 Recommendations on Money Laundering, drafted in 1990 and updated in 1996 and 2003, are world standards. After 2001, the FATF widened its scope to address terrorist financing with nine Special Recommendations. The FATF's 40/9 Recommendations form a comprehensive package through which the world community addresses the challenges of financial crime and terrorist financing. Among other issues, FATF is now examining whether new guidelines could be developed to deal with the issue of the financing of the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
National Action
Canada’s main agency for monitoring money laundering is the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC). Established in July 2000, the Centre collects, analyses, assesses and shares information, to help detect, prevent and deter money laundering and financing of terrorist activities here and abroad. Toronto, Canada has recently been selected as the site for the Egmont Group, the international organization of financial intelligence units of which FINTRAC is a member.
International Action
FATF’s global activities have generated a number of similar regional organizations. Canada, as an enthusiastic supporter of the FATF, collaborates closely with some of these. For example, as a Co-operating and Supporting nation to the Caribbean Financial Action Task Force (CFATF), we are helping several states in the Caribbean region update legislation and strengthen their financial systems. We also support similar Anti-Money Laundering regional bodies in Asia, Africa and Europe.
Sound financial systems and strong anti-laundering measures are essential for fighting money-laundering and terrorist financing. For that reason, Canada is active in AML initiatives of international organizations such as the G8.Canada helped to draft FATF's recommendations, and have played parts in negotiating several international conventions to strengthen national financial systems. The UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNCTOC), which came into force in October 2003, is an example.
