The government of Canada has published an official draft on amendments to strengthen the country’s Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing (AML/ATF) Regime to include cryptocurrencies and prepaid cards among other things.
According to Canada Gazette, the proposed amendments are aimed at mitigating the money laundering and terrorist activity financing vulnerabilities of cryptocurrencies in a way that is “consistent with the existing legal framework, while not unduly hindering innovation.”
“Persons and entities that are “dealing in virtual currency” would be financial entities or other entities deemed domestic or foreign MSBs, as the case may be,” the draft states.
Under the proposed regulations, all persons and entities dealing in cryptocurrencies would be required to implement a full compliance program and register with FINTRAC.
“A financial entity shall keep a large virtual currency transaction record in respect of every amount of C$10,000 or more in virtual currency that it receives from a person or entity in a single transaction, unless the amount is received from another financial entity or a public body or from a person who is acting on behalf of a client that is a financial entity or public body,” it states.
For virtual currency transactions of C$1,000 or more, then the entities would be required to keep records relating to the date of the transaction and the KYC details of those involved in the transaction, among other things.
According to the cost-benefit analysis included in the draft, the regulations would cost around C$61 over the next 10 years with requirements for businesses dealing in virtual currency amounting to around C$270k.
