On Dec. 9, 2017, the Minister of Finance issued the first-ever Ministerial Directive under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (FINTRAC Regime). The Ministerial Directive requires all reporting entities (including brokers and sales representatives) to treat all transactions originating from, or destined to, North Korea as high risk.

It is now the responsibility of each brokerage to:

• Document in the brokerage's risk assessment that transactions to and from North Korea are high risk;
• Update policies and procedures to include information on how the brokerage becomes aware of ministerial directives issued by the Minister of Finance (that is:  subscribe to the FINTRAC RSS feed, join the FINTRAC email list, visit the FINTRAC website);
• Implement specific measures to mitigate the risk posed by high risk transactions (for example: take additional steps to identify clients involved in such transactions, keep a record of all actions with the client, report a suspicious transaction); and
• Ensure the measures are understood by all sales representatives.

Learn more about the Ministerial Directive on North Korea.

If you have questions about FINTRAC, please refer to the resources available on REALTOR Link^® or contact CREA’s member support team at support@crea.ca.