Commons Committee Calls on Ottawa to Provide Information on Promised Program to Combat Financial Crime
A parliamentary committee is urging the Trudeau government to provide details on a financial crime-busting program it first proposed three years ago and subsequently promised in the last two budgets.
In the report, the committee asked Ottawa to come up with the necessary guidelines on how to run the agency.
It recommended that “in Budget 2024, the Government of Canada provide details on the structure and mandate of the proposed Canada Financial Crimes Agency” and that “the Government of Canada consider designating a unit within the proposed Canada Financial Crimes Agency responsible for sanctions enforcement.”
‘Under One Roof’
At the time, the Liberals said it would commit $200 million to the agency over the next four years and leverage the resources and expertise of the RCMP, Canada Revenue Agency, and Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) “under one roof.”
“Fraud, money-laundering, insider trading, organized crime, and other financial crimes put Canadians at risk, and put our economy [at] risk,” the platform said. “A re-elected Liberal government will: Establish Canada’s first ever, nation-wide agency whose sole purpose is to investigate these highly complex crimes and enforce federal law in this area.”
“FINTRAC analyzed a sample of nearly 48,000 transactions in relation to the laundering of the proceeds of crime through underground banking schemes,” the report said.
“The majority of the underground banking-related disclosures primarily involved incoming wire transfers from entities or individuals in China, notably in Hong Kong, followed by the movement of these funds through financial institutions into the following sectors: casinos, real estate, securities, automotive and the legal profession.”
The consultation closed on Aug. 1, 2023.