The federal government (via the Dept of Finance) has just released Canada's Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Regime Strategy 2023-2026. It is a reasonably brief survey of the current legal frameworks under which this "regime" operates, with some information about the current state of play domestically and internationally. It sets out four "Priority Actions" toward improving the regime:
- Increasing operational effectiveness
- Addressing legislative and regulatory gaps
- Improving regime governance and coordination
- Contributing to international community efforts to combat ML/TF
Various developments are canvassed, including the new federal corporate transparency registry and the report of the Cullen Commission. Regarding the Financial Crimes Agency the government suggested was going to be set up, it comments:
In Budget 2022 the government announced its intention to establish a new Canada Financial Crimes Agency, which will bolster Canada's ability to quickly respond to complex and fast-moving cases of financial crime as its lead enforcement agency in this area. The Budget provided $2 million to Public Safety Canada in 2022-23 to undertake initial work to develop and design the new agency. A portion of this funding is being used to establish a dedicated project team of policy and operational experts housed within Public Safety Canada's Financial Crime Coordination Centre (FC3) to examine the legislative, operational and jurisdictional landscape in Canada in order to develop recommendations on the agency's mandate, priorities and authorities. The remaining funding is being used to engage financial crime and other experts through professionally contracted services, providing an independent assessment of international best practices to complement the efforts of the dedicated project team throughout the Canada Financial Crimes Agency development and design process.
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