OTTAWA – Canada’s anti-money laundering agency is warning about the key areas that lawyers could be aiding in the illicit movement of funds.
In a special bulletin, Fintrac says banks and other reporting entities should be especially mindful of the potential in areas like the misuse of client or trust accounts, real estate purchases, and in the creation and management of companies and trusts.
The agency warns that complicit legal professionals can offer a veneer of legitimacy and respectability to financial transactions that may dissuade questioning or suspicion from financial institutions.
It notes the profession falls in a gap of oversight as, with the exception of British Columbia, legal professionals are not subject to the obligations of Canada’s anti-money laundering and anti-terrorist financing regime.
Fintrac says a review of financial intelligence disclosures show instances where lawyers have been directly involved in common types of money laundering schemes.
The warning comes as other agencies like Canada’s banking regulator has also raised money laundering concerns, and in the wake of TD Bank Group paying more than US$3 billion in the U.S. for its failure to stop criminals from moving money through the bank.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 23, 2024.
