The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), Canada’s anti-money laundering authority, is touting recent efforts at global co-operation to address the risks of financial crime, particularly focused on money services businesses that transmit or convert money.
FINTRAC reports that the International Supervisors Forum (ISF) — which serves as a venue for collaboration between regulatory agencies from Canada, the U.S., the U.K., Australia and New Zealand — intends to co-ordinate compliance and enforcement activities on money services firms.
Money services firms “play a critical role in identifying, mitigating and managing [money laundering] risks across multiple jurisdictions through major agent networks, many who transact to high-risk jurisdictions with less advanced money laundering and terrorism financing regulatory regimes,” FINTRAC reports.
The members of the ISF are formalizing agreements to govern information sharing and to develop best practices “to strengthen the international anti-terrorist financing and anti-money laundering regulatory community.”
FINTRAC reports that it also met with senior executives of leading money services businesses such as Western Union, MoneyGram and RIA to discuss the role of the ISF, share information and create a dialogue on compliance issues in that sector.
Such issues include: how they manage compliance issues in high-risk jurisdictions; how global firms address enterprise-wide risks; how they supervise agents; and how they identify and report on foreign terrorist fighters.
“As founding members of the [ISF], FINTRAC recognizes the importance of strengthening global co-operation in the fight against money laundering and terrorism financing, and enhancing compliance and supervisory regimes around the world,” says Gérald Cossette, director of FINTRAC, in a statement.