The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC; ) is the national financial intelligence agency of

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

. FINTRAC was established in 2000 under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) Act to facilitate detection and investigation of

money laundering Money laundering is the process of illegally concealing the origin of money obtained from illicit activities (often known as dirty money) such as drug trafficking, sex work, terrorism, corruption, and embezzlement, and converting the funds i ...

. Its mandate was expanded in December 2001 following amendments to the Proceeds of Crime Act to also disclose financial intelligence to other Canadian intelligence and law enforcement agencies with respect to suspected

terrorist financing Terrorism financing is the provision of funds or providing financial support to individual terrorists or non-state actors. Most countries have implemented measures to counter terrorism financing (CTF) often as part of their money laundering law ...

. FINTRAC's mandate was further expanded in 2006 under Bill C-25 to enhance the client identification, record-keeping and reporting measures, established a registration regime for money services businesses and foreign exchange dealers, and created new offences for not registering. FINTRAC has been a member of the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units, an international organization of financial intelligence bodies, since June 2002.

Activities

FINTRAC receives information from regulated entities on: * Suspicious transactions * Suspected terrorist property * Large cash transactionsA large cash transaction is considered to be CA$10,000 or more. * Outgoing or Incoming International

Electronic funds transfer Electronic funds transfer (EFT) is the transfer of money from one bank account to another, either within a single financial institution or across multiple institutions, via computer-based systems. The funds transfer process generally consists ...

over $10,000 CAD within a 24-hour period * Cross border currency reporting In 2009, FINTRAC estimated that the amount of money laundered on an annual basis is somewhere between $5 and $15 billion. FINTRAC publishes annual results, quarterly updates, performance reports, and notices. FINTRAC analyzes approximately 19 million transactions per year. In 2017, FINTRAC made 2,000 disclosures to police forces.

Directors

The Director is appointed by the

Governor-in-Council The King-in-Council or the Queen-in-Council, depending on the gender of the reigning monarch, is a constitutional term in a number of states. In a general sense, it refers to the monarch exercising executive authority, usually in the form of appr ...

for a term of not more than five years during the pleasure of the Governor General and on the expiry of a first or subsequent term of office but no person shall hold office as Director for terms of more than ten years in the aggregate. * Sarah Paquet, November 18, 2020 * Nada Semaan, March 5, 2018 * Barry MacKillop ''(Interim Director)'', October 18, 2017 - March 4, 2018. * Gérald Cossette, October 15, 2012 – October 17, 2017 * Jeanne M. Flemming, March 3, 2008 – 2012 * Keith Fernandez, acting director, 2007 - 2008 * Horst Intscher, 2000 - 2007

Reports

Most FINTRAC reports can be submitted electronically or in paper. For electronic submissions, reporting entities must be enrolled in FINTRAC's electronic reporting system and can use either FINTRAC's web form or a ''batch report'', which enables the submission of several reports at once using a

public key certificate In cryptography, a public key certificate, also known as a digital certificate or identity certificate, is an electronic document used to prove the validity of a Key authentication, public key. The certificate includes the public key and informati ...

. The following activities are to be filed in reports to FINTRAC: * Suspicious transactions * Large cash transactions * Large virtual currency transactions * Electronic funds transfers * Casino disbursements * Terrorist property * Alternative to large cash transaction reports FINTRAC can also receive the following information: * Cross-border currency or monetary instruments reports * Voluntary Information

Oversight

FINTRAC reports to the

Parliament of Canada The Parliament of Canada () is the Canadian federalism, federal legislature of Canada. The Monarchy of Canada, Crown, along with two chambers: the Senate of Canada, Senate and the House of Commons of Canada, House of Commons, form the Bicameral ...

through the Minister of Finance. Section 72(2) of the ''Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act'' also mandates audits of FINTRAC by the Privacy Commissioner of Canada every two years. Since 2019 its national security and intelligence activities are subject to oversight by the National Security and Intelligence Review Agency and the National Security and Intelligence Committee of Parliamentarians.

Criticism

In 2009, the Privacy Commissioner of Canada reported that FINTRAC was receiving and retaining personal information beyond its remit, in breach of the Privacy Act, and that this "presents an unquestionable risk to privacy by making available for use or disclosure personal information which should never have been obtained."

References

External links

* {{authority control Security Intelligence Service Federal departments and agencies of Canada Public Safety Canada 2000 establishments in Ontario Tax evasion Financial regulatory authorities of Canada Counterterrorism in Canada Financial reporting Government agencies established in 2000