Securities, NFTs and the Changing Regulatory Landscape - WATCH VIDEO

Matt McGuire (The AML Shop Practice Leader) recently participated in a panel discussion on Securities, NFTs and the Changing Regulatory Landscape at the 2022 Alberta Technology Symposium.

The NFT boom of early 2021 created momentum around blockchain tokens as a powerful way to commoditize assets like art and intellectual property. Still, the technology’s lightning fast evolution means that NFTs are caught in a regulatory grey area that needs clarity. Consumer and investor protection requires building legal solid and governance policies around token issuances to avoid replicating the disastrous ICO bubble of 2018. The Canadian Blockchain Consortium is joined by industry members and legal experts to shed light on some of the critical issues raised by NFTs and discuss a path forward on market regulation.

Moderator:
Richard Jones, Q.C. - Litigation and Municipal Groups | Brownlee LLP
Speakers:
Melissa Smith, Partner | Borden Ladner Gervais LLP (BLG)
Philip Long Senior Manager and Blockchain Lead | KPMG Canada
Krista Rabidoux, CPA, CMA, EA, Partner | Andersen
Matt McGuire FCPA, FCA, CFF, CAMS, AMLP, CCI, Co-Founder | the AML shop

Matt McGuire The AML Shop Practice Leader, featured in Epoch Times

The AML Shop Practice Leader Matt McGuire has been called upon to comment on the news of new financial resources allocated to FINTRAC under the 2022 Federal Budget in the Epoch Times Feature Budget’s Plans for Financial Crimes Agency Prompts Concerns Over Impact on Crowdfunding. 


This article highlights a variety of news-worthy AML topics including the impacts of the Emergencies Act and types of Money Laundering issues in Canada within the context of the latest Federal Budget announcement.



Podcast: Fighting Financial Crime with Digital Identity with Eugenio DiMira

Listen to the latest episode of the SSI Orbit Podcast via northernblock.io, featuring The AML Shop’s Chief Identity Officer Eugenio DiMira.

This podcast episode discusses the hot topic of Financial Crimes and Digital Identity and addresses the following questions:

  1. What’s the global impact of money laundering today?

  2. How can Digital ID help prevent illicit financial flows?

  3. How can technology (e.g., device fingerprinting) make anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing efforts faster, cheaper and more efficient?

  4. What is the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) Digital ID guidance?

  5. How can you layer multiple sources of identity (outside of government sources) to enhance Identification Assurance?

  6. How can you prevent money laundering through stronger Legal Entity Identity verifications?

  7. Can Open Banking succeed without Digital Identity? Are open banking and digital identity the same thing?

  8. What are some of the key Open Banking standards bodies that are active today?

  9. Does Open Banking make money laundering easier or more difficult?

The AML Shop client "Reyts Fintech Inc" wins 1st Place at DMZ Black Innovation Summit

The AML Shop client “Reyts Fintech Inc” has won the prestigious 1st place prize for top Black-led Startup at the 2022 DMZ Black Innovation Summit, a Ryerson-led program and a world-leading incubator for tech startups around the world.

The 2nd annual Black Innovation Summit provided an opportunity for 8 Black-led startups to pitch to a panel of judges to secure grant-funding for their business.

We at The AML shop want to wish Reyts Fintech congratulations on this well deserved honour!

Read more about Reyts Fintech Inc. and the DMZ Black Innovation Summit via the buttons below.

Matt McGuire featured in Global News

Global News has released a feature titled Over $154M tied to detained Chinese-Canadian oligarch invested in GTA real estate. This feature examines the financial footprint of Xiao Jianhua and features comments from The AML Shop’s Matt McGuire.

This informative piece discusses various AML related touch-points and in particular, how corporations in Canada can be established and leveraged for real estate transactions using foreign funds that might be subject to Canada’s proceeds of crime and terrorist financing act.

Click the button below to read this engaging feature and watch a video clip where Matt shares his insights on this this topic.

Canada imposes additional measures on Russia in response to Russia's attack on Ukraine


Global Affairs Canada has released an update on additional measures taken on Russia in response to Russia’s attack on Ukraine. This publication includes a list of new and expanding sanctions against specific individuals and entities. 

The sanctions include:

  • Stringent prohibitions on persons in Canada, and Canadians outside of Canada from engaging in any activity related to any property of these listed persons or providing financing or related services to them.

  • Prohibitions on the purchasing, or facilitating the purchase of Russian sovereign debt.

Read full details here

Specific Prohibitions are set out in the regulations and can be read at the below links:

The AML Shop's Matt McGuire on CTV's Power Play with Evan Solomon

What are the red flags raised by powers enacted under the Emergencies Act?

Watch Matt McGuire (The AML Shop Co-Founder and Practice Leader) discuss this hot topic with the Press Gallery and Evan Solomon on CTV's Power Play Overtime discussion.

Watch this segment during the February 21st episode, at the 29:48 minute mark by clicking the button below.

Emergency Measures Act – Initial Perspectives from the experts at the AML Shop

On February 14, 2022, the federal government invoked the Emergencies Act, that broadens the scope of the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and sets out new obligations to financial institutions and service providers.

The regulations to achieve those means were included in the Emergency Economic Measures Order (Order) released on February 15, 2022. Our summary and interpretation of that Order is as follows:

There is an immediate order in place for financial institutions, insurance companies, trust and loan companies, money services businesses, crowdfunding platforms and/or payment service providers to continuously determine whether they are in control or possession of property by a designated person.

Click the button below to read the Initial Perspectives on the Emergencies Act from the experts at The AML Shop.

Additionally, The RCMP has published a list of cryptocurrency addresses they associated with the blockade, pursuant to the Emergencies Act measures.

Updates to guidance on FINTRAC website - PART 5: Suspicious Transaction Reporting and Guidance Glossary

In 2021, FINTRAC updated the guidance in several areas including large virtual currency transaction reporting, the ministerial directive on financial transactions associated with the Islamic Republic of Iran, compliance program requirements, terrorist property reporting, methods to verify the identity of persons and entities, as well as money laundering (ML) and terrorist financing (TF) indicators related to suspicious transaction reporting.

Read Part Five, the final post of a five-part weekly series by The AML Shop’s Sonia Yooshing (Program Content Specialist) that takes a deep dive into each of the changes that FINTRAC has made to its guidance on suspicious transaction reporting and the glossary. The previous, Part Four, focused on reporting terrorist property to FINTRAC and the methods to verify the identity of persons and entities. Part Three outlined the updates related to compliance program requirements. Part Two outlined the updates related to the ministerial directive on financial transactions associated with the Islamic Republic of Iran.  Part One discussed changes to the guidance on LVCT reporting.

Matt McGuire feature on Global News

Matt McGuire (Practice Leader, The AML Shop) recently provided his expert insights to Global News concerning Canada’s hot real estate market and the decrease in money laundering audits in the industry for the feature “As Canada’s home prices soared during Covid-19, real estate money laundering audits fell 64%”.

This illuminating piece provides rarely heard insider perspectives on how the real estate industry and AML intersect; ultimately affecting the general public and Canada’s housing market.