Davidson Consolidated Proceeds of Crime - What's New 2021

The 2021 edition of Consolidated Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (PCMLTFA) and Regulations features updated legislation and regulatory materials.

The Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Regulations were amended significantly and key amendments include:

• regulate businesses dealing in virtual currencies; foreign money services businesses; prescribed prepaid cards issued by financial entities; and loan products offered by the life insurance sector;
• update client identification measures including simplified identification measures for certain low-risk clients, reliance on affiliates, and prescribe additional flexibility for the online environment.; and
• restructure the Regulations including renumbering and rearranging the placement of provisions; update the schedules; make minor technical amendments and changes to regulatory language to reflect current drafting conventions.

The majority of the Regulations will be in force on June 1, 2021; however, certain measures came into force on June 1, 2020.

In June 2020, additional amendments to the Regulations under the PCMLTFA were finalized to apply stronger customer due diligence requirements and beneficial ownership requirements to designated non-financial businesses and professions (DNFBPs); modify the definition of business relationship for the real estate sector; align customer due diligence measures for casinos with international standards; align virtual currency record-keeping obligations with international standards; clarify the cross-border currency reporting program; clarifying a number of existing requirements; and make minor technical amendments.