registration and licensing (fintrac, amf/revenue quebec, ficom)

Our team can help to determine your registration and licensing requirements, and then guide you through any required application process and renewal. Determining whether your business model requires registration and licensing can be complex. If you go through those processes needlessly, there can be significant unintended consequences for your financial services relationships, and may create a competitive disadvantage. It is critical to know that registration is required federally with FINTRAC for foreign fiat and crypto money services businesses (those without a physical location in Canada or a Canadian entity). The threshold for registration is low: a single Canadian client could trigger registration requirements. Certain money services business operations in Quebec or involving clients in Quebec may require a separate registration with the Autorité des Marchés Financiers (AMF) and Revenue Quebec. Covered activities include: fiat and cryptocurrency exchange, funds transfers, the issue or redemption of traveller’s cheques, money orders or bank drafts, and cheque cashing.