Canada’s Leadership in Global Efforts to Combat Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing
Canada plays a vital role in global efforts to combat money laundering and terrorist financing, reinforcing its domestic efforts with strong leadership on the international stage.
International Partnerships
As a founding member of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF), Canada is committed to preventing money laundering, terrorist financing, and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction. Its partnership with the FATF, along with other key organizations such as the Egmont Group of Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) and the Five Eyes Partnership, enables it to monitor, influence, and support Anti-Money Laundering/Countering the Financing of Terrorism (AML/CFT) activities and efforts in regions of strategic interest.
- The country’s co-chairmanship of the Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering (APG) from July 2022 to July 2024 further solidifies its commitment to global cooperation.
- The Egmont Group, which comprises FIUs from over 160 jurisdictions, aims to enhance cooperation and information exchange in support of member countries’ AML/CFT regimes. Canada’s membership in this group allows it to foster communication and improve the exchange of information, intelligence, and expertise among the global network of FIUs.
- The Five Eyes Partnership, comprising Australia, Canada, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, and the United States, shares a broad range of information with one another and collaborates on national security, defence, and intelligence-related issues. This partnership enables Canada to leverage its relationships with other countries to combat money laundering and terrorist financing.
Domestic Efforts
Canada’s AML/CFT efforts are integrated into its broader national security and public safety framework, addressing the complex threats posed by transnational criminal networks and state actors. The country’s National Inherent Risk Assessment (NIRA) serves as a key tool for understanding ongoing money laundering and terrorist financing trends and methods, informing policy responses and providing risk information to industry.
- Recent years have seen a broad range of profit-oriented crimes generating billions of dollars in illegal proceeds annually, which could be laundered.
- The terrorism threat landscape is complex, diverse, and continuously evolving, with assessments showing that the nature of terrorist attacks has changed, becoming smaller in scale and lower in cost.
Assessments and Findings
The 2023 NIRA assessed the money laundering threat posed by 22 profit-oriented crimes, as well as the threat posed by third-party money launderers. The assessment found that transnational organized crime groups and professional money launderers remain the key money laundering threat actors in the Canadian context.
Conclusion
Canada’s commitment to combating money laundering and terrorist financing is unwavering, with ongoing efforts to address emerging risks and trends. As a leader on the international stage, Canada continues to work closely with other countries to disrupt and prevent these threats, protecting its citizens and economy from harm.