L A T E S T U P D A T E S


In March 2024, FINTRAC released a statement that they were managing a cyber incident and had temporarily taken many of their corporate systems offline.  This meant for many reporting entities that normal daily reporting could not be submitted.

As of June 2024, FINTRAC’s systems are still not 100% operational. However, FINTRAC recently opened some MSB registration functionality.

In an update on May 17th, FINTRAC released the following web form:

Request for Money services business (MSB) and Foreign money services business (FMSB) registration

This form allows existing MSBs the ability to RENEW, UPDATE and/or CANCEL their registration. Unfortunately, the public registry and the registration portal are still not operating at this time. That means that new applications are still not being accepted at this time.

what you need to know about the outage

  • FINTRAC is expecting reporting entities to be prepared to file ALL transactions once the incident has been fully resolved. You should be keeping a log of all reportable transactions so that you are ready to file them right away.

  • If you are not sure if your STR qualifies as a “priority STR”, email FINTRAC at STR-DOD@fintrac-canafe.gc.ca and allow FINTRAC to guide you in the right direction. REMEMBER – do not provide any personal information in the email itself. FINTRAC will provide you with instructions on how to file the STR in a safe and secure manner.

  • MSBs also have an obligation to keep their registration information current and must report changes to registration information within 30 days of the change. It is important that you send an email to  MSBRegistration@fintrac-canafe.gc.ca to notify FINTRAC of any changes to your registration information to ensure you remain compliant with your obligations.

  • If your registration is set to expire, be sure to email FINTRAC (MSBRegistration@fintrac-canafe.gc.ca) so that they can guide you through the renewal process.

  • No enforcement actions will be taken for late reports or renewals while the systems are down. However, once the incident has been resolved, FINTRAC will expect reporting entities to resume business as usual. Contact an AML expert today to help get you back on track (email address hyperlink or visit our FINTRAC Filing Remediation services page for more information (hyperlink to new subpage)