Bulletin
FROM: MAR-APR 2005 ISSUE
A Matter of Compliance
The core product of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) is financial intelligence — case-specific information on financial transactions suspected of being related to money laundering and/or terrorist financing activity. This data is the result of analyzing the millions of transaction reports FINTRAC is legislated to receive from financial institutions and intermediaries, such as banks, casinos, securities dealers, and accountants.
In 2005, FINTRAC plans to: conduct reporting entity examinations, complete the identification of all reporting entities, develop a national examination plan, and refine its examination policies and procedures. As part of this process, FINTRAC is assessing the level of compliance of practitioners covered under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act.
By law, FINTRAC is permitted to use information it collects about professional accountants and the services they perform for clients as financial intermediaries to ensure compliance with money laundering and terrorist financing regulations. FINTRAC will be sending compliance questionnaires to selected practitioners in the first quarter of 2005. Responding to the questionnaire is essential, as the results will be used to conduct a risk assessment of the profession. For assistance in completing the form or for more information, contact FINTRAC at www.fintrac.gc.ca.
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Revised Cheque Specs
The Canadian Payments Association (CPA) recently released revised specifications for Canadian cheques in preparation for the shift to image-based clearing of cheques, slated for full adoption by the end of 2006.
Some key changes to cheque specifications are:
- adoption of a numeric date field in one of two specified formats — either month, day, year or day, month, year — to reflect different practices in English- and French-speaking Canada;
- a mandatory serial number encoded in magnetic ink on the bottom of the cheque;
- an increase in the minimum length of cheques from 6 inches to 6 1/4 inches to provide sufficient space for the serial number;
- standardized positions for the date and amount fields;
- disallowance of images that may hinder the capture of data from the cheques.
An overview of the changes is available at www.cdnpay.ca.
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