Key Takeaways
- FINTRAC has revoked the registrations of 50 money services businesses (MSBs) so far in 2026
- Grounds for losing registration range from failing to respond to information requests and neglecting to update business details, to holding prior convictions for money laundering, terrorist financing or related offences.
Canada’s financial intelligence unit has stripped 23 crypto-related money services businesses(MSBs) of their operating registrations.
Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC), which oversees the registration and compliance of money services businesses across the country, said the revocations immediately remove the affected firms’ legal right to operate in Canada. With this latest sweep, FINTRAC has revoked the registrations of 50 money services businesses (MSBs) so far in 2026. Among the lot, 47 were related to the digital asset sector.
Grounds for losing registration range from failing to respond to information requests and neglecting to update business details, to holding prior convictions for money laundering, terrorist financing or related offences.
Finance Minister Francois-Philippe Champagne framed the action in stark terms. “Money laundering is a serious crime that threatens the integrity of Canada’s financial system,” he said, adding that the government would keep pressing forward.
“Today alone, there have been 23 revocations of money services businesses registrations, a requirement for these businesses to operate legally in Canada, as we continue to step up our focus on this issue. This represents a significantly increased pace of action, and our government will maintain this momentum.”
Champagne also pointed to virtual currency businesses specifically as a vector for financial crime. “Our government will continue to monitor and pursue new measures to address risks posed by virtual currency businesses… which can be used to facilitate money laundering and fraud,” he said, noting that the government is also working to increase enforcement capacity and transparency through FINTRAC directly.
In February, Champagne wrote to FINTRAC’s director personally, ordering the agency to mobilise resources against the threat of illicit finance and calling for immediate action in support of law enforcement partners and financial institutions.
Meanwhile, the enforcement climate around crypto compliance in Canada has grown markedly harsher over the past several months. In September 2025, FINTRAC levied a $14 million penalty against crypto exchange KuCoin for anti-money laundering violations, setting what was then a record for the agency. That record stood for barely a month.
Last October, FINTRAC imposed a $126 million fine on Cryptomus, operating under the corporate name Xeltox Enterprises Ltd, for 2,593 separate violations of the Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing Act. Those violations included failure to report more than 1,500 large virtual currency transactions and repeated breaches of federal directives tied to transactions linked to Iran, child exploitation, ransomware and sanctions evasion. It remains the largest administrative monetary penalty in FINTRAC’s history.
