FINTRAC MSB registration, step by step

What is FINTRAC MSB registration?

FINTRAC MSB registration is the federal step every money service business in Canada takes before it opens. FINTRAC is the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada. It supervises the businesses covered by Canada's anti-money laundering law.

That law is the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act. It says money services businesses must register with FINTRAC before they begin to operate in Canada. FINTRAC charges no registration fee.

Registration is also the first thing payment providers ask for. Once FINTRAC gives you a registration number, you can apply to us for payment rails for your money service business.

Is there an MSB licence in Canada?

Not from the federal government. FINTRAC registers money services businesses. It doesn't license them, and it doesn't issue certificates of registration.

FINTRAC also says registration doesn't mean it endorses a business. It shows only that the business met the legal requirements to register.

Some provinces have their own rules for money services businesses. A provincial licence or registration doesn't replace FINTRAC registration, so you may need both.

Who has to register as an MSB?

You're an MSB if you offer at least one MSB service and have a place of business in Canada. Being registered or licensed by a province doesn't change that: you still register with FINTRAC.

The MSB services

• Foreign exchange dealing
• Remitting or transmitting funds, which covers money transfer and remittance
• Issuing or redeeming money orders, traveller's cheques or similar instruments
• Dealing in virtual currency
• Crowdfunding platform services
• Armoured cars
• Cheque cashing
• Acquirer services for private automated banking machines (private ATMs)

What counts as a place of business in Canada

FINTRAC counts any of these:

• your business is incorporated in Canada;
• you have a physical location in Canada;
• you have employees, agents or branches in Canada.

Foreign businesses that serve Canadians

A business with no place of business in Canada may still have to register. It does if it directs MSB services at people in Canada and serves clients here. It registers as a foreign money services business.

FINTRAC's examples of directing services at Canada include marketing aimed at Canadians, a .ca domain and a Canadian directory listing. A foreign MSB must also name a representative for service who lives in Canada.

Payment service providers

FINTRAC treats some payment services as remitting or transmitting funds. That includes paying invoices on a payer's behalf, and standing between a buyer and a seller of goods or services. If your platform does either, check whether you must register.

FINTRAC's online questionnaire walks you through these tests if your business doesn't fit neatly into one service.

Who can't register as an MSB?

FINTRAC won't register a person or business convicted of money laundering, terrorist financing or certain other criminal offences. Listed terrorist groups and listed persons can't register either.

The rule reaches the people behind a company too. A corporation can't register if one of its leaders is ineligible. That covers its chief executive, its president, each director and anyone who owns or controls 20% or more.

The same rules apply to agents and mandataries, the people or businesses that act on an MSB's behalf.

What documents does FINTRAC ask for?

FINTRAC accepts only complete applications. Gather all of this before you start the form.

Information for the form

• Your bank account information
• Your compliance officer's details
• Your number of employees
• Your incorporation information, if you're a corporation
• Names and dates of birth for your owners and senior managers
• The dollar amount of transactions you expect each year, for each MSB service
• Details of every location
• Details of every agent or mandatary acting for you
• For a foreign MSB: your representative for service in Canada

Supporting documents

• Criminal record checks, explained below
• A certified translation of any record check that isn't in English or French
• Your certificate of incorporation, or the latest record that shows your name, address and directors. Partnerships send the partnership agreement or an equivalent record
• A document that sets out your ownership, control and structure

Criminal record checks

You need one for the chief executive, the president and each director. You also need one for everyone who owns or controls 20% or more, directly or indirectly. A sole proprietor provides their own.

Each check comes from the authorities of the country where the person lives. It must be issued no more than 6 months before you submit. Keep copies for at least 5 years after you apply.

How to register with FINTRAC, step by step

1. Check that you need to register

   Use FINTRAC's questionnaire, or the tests above. If you offer an MSB service and have a place of business in Canada, you do.

2. Send the pre-registration request

   Fill in FINTRAC's pre-registration form. A FINTRAC compliance officer then contacts you and sends you the registration form.

3. Prepare your documents

   Collect everything in the list above. Order criminal record checks early, but no more than 6 months before you plan to submit.

4. Complete the registration form

   Fill in every field that applies to you. FINTRAC closes incomplete applications and asks you to send a complete one.

5. Submit before the link expires

   You submit through a link from FINTRAC's Secure Document Transfer System or a Canada Post Connect message. The Secure Document Transfer System link expires within 15 days. Miss it, and FINTRAC closes the application and you send a new one.

6. Answer any clarification request

   FINTRAC may have questions about your application. You have 30 days to respond.

7. Get your decision

   If FINTRAC approves you, you get a notice with your registration number. Some of your details then appear in FINTRAC's public MSB registry.

Send one application per business. FINTRAC asks applicants not to submit more than one for the same business.

How long does FINTRAC registration take?

FINTRAC processes most complete applications within 3 months of receiving the complete package. Complex applications can take longer.

Some of the time depends on you. Missing documents, an expired submission link or a slow answer to a clarification request all add time.

You can't operate as an MSB while you wait. FINTRAC says you must register before you begin to operate in Canada.

How to keep your MSB registration current

Your registration is valid for 2 years. Renew it before the expiry date with FINTRAC's renewal form. FINTRAC processes most complete renewals within 3 months, so start early.

• Report changes within 30 days, such as new contacts, agents, locations or activities.
• Answer clarification requests within 30 days.
• Cease your registration within 30 days of the day you stop offering MSB services.

Anyone can look you up on FINTRAC's MSB registry, which FINTRAC updates monthly. It shows each business as registered, expired, ceased or revoked. Our guide to checking the FINTRAC MSB registry explains each status.

We're on it too: Invincible Pay is registered with FINTRAC as a money services business (C100000702).

Your obligations once you're registered

Registration is the start of your FINTRAC obligations. As an MSB, you must:

• run a compliance program: a compliance officer, written policies, a risk assessment, training, and reviews at least every 2 years;
• verify the identity of your clients for certain transactions;
• keep records, and give them to FINTRAC within 30 days when it asks;
• report suspicious transactions to FINTRAC;
• report $10,000 or more received in cash or virtual currency, and international transfers of $10,000 or more.

Our guide to the FINTRAC compliance program explains each part, with the reports and their deadlines.

What happens if you operate without registering?

FINTRAC says failing to register can lead to administrative monetary penalties or criminal charges. FINTRAC must also make every penalty it imposes public.

It can also cost you the providers you depend on. Payment providers check the registry, and we ask every MSB for its registration number before we open a wallet.