Canada’s anti-money-laundering monitor and regulator, the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), has assessed a fine of $107,250 against Immeubles Jack Sera Inc, a Quebec real estate broker, for failures to document risk and establish effective anti-money-laundering (AML) policies and procedures.
That fine was imposed on November 20, 2024, for conduct that was revealed during a compliance examination in 2022. As is typical for FINTRAC actions, the penalty was announced several months after it was imposed.
The company was found to have not been in compliance with Part 1 of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act and its associated Regulations (the AML/ATF Regulations), which cover recordkeeping identity verification obligations, and the reporting of suspicious transactions.
FINTRAC stated that Jack Sera Inc committed the following administrative violations:
- failure to develop and apply written compliance policies and procedures that are kept up to date, and, in the case of an entity, are approved by a senior officer;
- failure to assess and document the risk of a money laundering or terrorist financing offence, taking into consideration prescribed factors;
- failure to institute and document a plan for the ongoing compliance training program and deliver the training; and
- failure to conduct a prescribed review of its compliance program.
The release did not include further information on the specific nature of the violative conduct.
FINTRAC stepped up its enforcement in recent years, assessing its largest-ever penalties on TD Bank and Royal Bank of Canada for AML failures in 2024 and 2023, respectively.
There have been growing calls to strengthen FINTRAC’s enforcement capabilities, with some observers noting that its anti-money-laundering penalties are modest compared to those in the United States, where fines for similar offenses are often significantly higher.
