FINTRAC Revokes 82 Money Services Business Licences, Up Nearly 600 Percent

The licences of 82 money services businesses were revoked in Canada in 2025-26, up 583 percent from the 12 revoked the year prior. The Canadian Press/Jonathan Hayward

The number of money services business licences revoked in Canada has jumped almost sixfold over the past year due to non-compliance, according to the country’s financial intelligence agency.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) said in its annual report that it revoked the registrations of 82 money services businesses in Canada in 2025-26, up 583 percent from the 12 revoked in 2024-25.

FINTRAC said it revoked the 82 registrations for failing to respond to clarification requests or demands for information. Separately, the agency imposed administrative monetary penalties on money services businesses for violations including inadequate compliance programs, failure to register, and failure to report large virtual currency transactions.

The agency fined nine money services businesses alone for over $198 million for a variety of violations.

The report noted that administrative monetary penalties across all sectors also surged to a record $247 million, up from $25 million the previous year, and the largest amount in FINTRAC’s history.

FINTRAC issued 35 notices of violation, up 52 percent from the previous year. Money services businesses were the second-most penalized sector, with eight notices. Financial entities received the most, with 12.

Money services businesses, which range from corner wire-transfer shops to digital payment platforms, handle services such as international remittances and foreign currency exchange. In Canada, these businesses must register with FINTRAC and comply with the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act.

In July 2025, FINTRAC fined Peken Global Limited, also operating as KuCoin, $19.5 million for failing to register with the agency, failing to report large virtual currency transactions on 2,952 occasions, and failing to report suspicious transactions on 33 occasions. The suspicious transactions included links to darknet marketplaces, questionable gambling sites and illegal activities.

Meanwhile, In September 2025, the RCMP seized more than $56 million in cryptocurrency from TradeOgre, a cryptocurrency exchange platform, in what it described as the largest cryptocurrency seizure in Canadian history.

The RCMP said TradeOgre had failed to register with FINTRAC as a money services business and did not identify its clients. The operation also marked the first time the federal police force had dismantled a cryptocurrency exchange platform.

The number of money services businesses is quickly growing in Canada. As of March 31, 2026, there were 3,396 registered money services businesses, up from 2,778 in the previous year.

FINTRAC focused significant resources into money services businesses in 2025-26, after assessing they were vulnerable to money laundering and terrorist financing risk. It undertook 4,874 assessment and monitoring activities last year, a record high.