Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act

Marginal note:Disclosure by Centre prohibited

• 55 (1) Subject to subsections (3) and (6.1), sections 52, 53.1, 53.31 to 53.5, 55.1, 56.1 and 56.2, subsection 58(1) and sections 58.1, 65 to 65.1 and 68.1 of this Act and to subsection 12(1) of the Privacy Act, the Centre shall not disclose the following:

  • (a) information set out in a report made under section 7;

  • (a.1) information set out in a report made under section 7.1;

  • (b) information set out in a report made under section 9;

  • (b.1) information set out in a report referred to in section 9.1;

  • (b.2) information provided under sections 11.12 to 11.3 except for identifying information referred to in subsection 54.1(3);

  • (c) information set out in a report made under subsection 12(1), whether or not it is completed, or section 20;

  • (d) information voluntarily provided to the Centre about suspicions of money laundering or of the financing of terrorist activities;

  • (e) information prepared by the Centre from information referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d); or

  • (f) any other information, other than publicly available information, obtained in the administration or enforcement of this Part.

• Marginal note:Disclosure by others prohibited

  (2) The prohibition in subsection (1) also applies to the following persons:

  • (a) any person who, in the course of exercising powers or performing duties or functions under this Part, obtained or has or had access to information referred to in subsection (1); and

  • (b) any person or an employee of any person with whom the Centre enters into a contract, memorandum of understanding or other agreement for the provision of goods or services.

• Marginal note:Disclosure of designated information

  (3) If the Centre, on the basis of its analysis and assessment under paragraph 54(1)(c), has reasonable grounds to suspect that designated information would be relevant to investigating or prosecuting a money laundering offence or a terrorist activity financing offence, the Centre shall disclose the information to

  • (a) the appropriate police force;

  • (b) the Canada Revenue Agency, if the Centre also has reasonable grounds to suspect that the information would be relevant to investigating or prosecuting an offence of obtaining or attempting to obtain a rebate, refund or credit to which a person or entity is not entitled, or of evading or attempting to evade paying taxes or duties imposed under an Act of Parliament administered by the Minister of National Revenue;

  • (b.01) the Agence du revenu du Québec, if the Centre also has reasonable grounds to suspect that the information would be relevant to investigating or prosecuting an offence of obtaining or attempting to obtain a rebate, refund or credit to which a person or entity is not entitled, or of evading or attempting to evade paying taxes imposed under an Act of Parliament or of the legislature of Quebec administered by the Minister of Revenue of Quebec;

  • (b.1) the Canada Border Services Agency, if the Centre also has reasonable grounds to suspect that the information is relevant to an offence of evading or attempting to evade paying taxes or duties imposed under an Act of Parliament administered by the Agency;

  • (c) the Canada Revenue Agency, if the Centre also has reasonable grounds to suspect that the information is relevant to determining

    • (i) whether a registered charity, as defined in subsection 248(1) of the Income Tax Act, has ceased to comply with the requirements of that Act for its registration as such,

    • (ii) whether a person or entity that the Centre has reasonable grounds to suspect has applied to be a registered charity, as defined in subsection 248(1) of the Income Tax Act, is eligible to be registered as such, or

    • (iii) whether a person or entity that the Centre has reasonable grounds to suspect may apply to be a registered charity, as defined in subsection 248(1) of the Income Tax Act,

      • (A) has made or will make available any resources, directly or indirectly, to a listed entity as defined in subsection 83.01(1) of the Criminal Code,

      • (B) has made available any resources, directly or indirectly, to an entity as defined in subsection 83.01(1) of the Criminal Code that was at that time, and continues to be, engaged in terrorist activities as defined in that subsection or activities in support of them, or

      • (C) has made or will make available any resources, directly or indirectly, to an entity as defined in subsection 83.01(1) of the Criminal Code that engages or will engage in terrorist activities as defined in that subsection or activities in support of them;

  • (d) the Canada Border Services Agency, if the Centre also determines that the information is relevant to determining whether a person is a person described in sections 34 to 42 of the Immigration and Refugee Protection Act or is relevant to an offence under any of sections 91, 117 to 119, 126 or 127 of that Act;

  • (e) the Canada Border Services Agency, if the Centre also determines that the information is relevant to investigating or prosecuting an offence of smuggling or attempting to smuggle goods subject to duties or an offence related to the importation or exportation of goods that are prohibited, controlled or regulated under the Customs Act or under any other Act of Parliament;

  • (f) the Communications Security Establishment, if the Centre also determines that the information is relevant to the foreign intelligence aspect of the Communications Security Establishment’s mandate, referred to in section 16 of the Communications Security Establishment Act; and

  • (f.1) the Competition Bureau, if the Centre also has reasonable grounds to suspect that the information would be relevant to investigating or prosecuting an offence under the Competition Act, the Consumer Packaging and Labelling Act, the Precious Metals Marking Act or the Textile Labelling Act or an attempt to commit such an offence;

  • (g) an agency or body that administers the securities legislation of a province, if the Centre also has reasonable grounds to suspect that the information would be relevant to investigating or prosecuting an offence under that legislation;

  • (h) the Minister of Foreign Affairs or a Minister designated under subsection 6(2) of the Special Economic Measures Act, if the Centre also determines that the information is relevant to the making, administration or enforcement of an order or regulation referred to in subsection 4(1) of that Act; and

  • (i) the Minister of Foreign Affairs or a Minister designated under subsection 2.1(2) of the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law), if the Centre also determines that the information is relevant to the making, administration or enforcement of an order or regulation referred to in subsection 4(1) of that Act.

• Marginal note:Exception

  (3.1) Paragraph (3)(b) or (b.1) does not apply in respect of an offence relating to taxes or duties imposed under a prescribed Act or a prescribed portion of an Act.

• (4) and (5) [Repealed, 2001, c. 41, s. 67]

• Marginal note:Recording of reasons for decision

  (5.1) The Centre shall record in writing the reasons for all decisions to disclose information made under subsection (3).

• Marginal note:Exception

  (6) A person may disclose any information referred to in subsection (1) if the disclosure is necessary for the purpose of exercising powers or performing duties and functions under this Part.

• Marginal note:Publication

  (6.1) After a person has been determined by a court to be guilty of a money laundering offence or a terrorist activity financing offence, or has been determined by a foreign court to be guilty of an offence that is substantially similar to either of those offences, whether on acceptance of a plea of guilty or on a finding of guilt, the Centre may, if it has disclosed designated information under subsection (3) with respect to the investigation or prosecution of the offence, make public the fact that it made such a disclosure.

• Marginal note:Definition of designated information

  (7) For the purposes of subsection (3), designated information means, in respect of a financial transaction, an attempted financial transaction or an importation or exportation of currency or monetary instruments,

  • (a) the name of any person or entity that is involved in the transaction, attempted transaction, importation or exportation or of any person or entity acting on their behalf;

  • (a.1) the date of birth, gender, country of residence and nature of the occupation or business of a person referred to in paragraph (a), any alias that they use or have used and the name and business address of their employer;

  • (a.2) the nature of the principal business of an entity referred to in paragraph (a), the entity’s registration or incorporation number and the jurisdiction and country of issue of that number;

  • (a.3) the following information in respect of a person or entity referred to in paragraph (a):

    • (i) their address, telephone number and electronic mail address,

    • (ii) any identification number assigned to them by a person or entity who made a report referred to in subsection (1),

    • (iii) the Uniform Resource Locator of their website, and

    • (iv) the type of document or other information used to identify or verify their identity, the jurisdiction and country of issue of the document and the number of the document or the number associated with the information;

  • (b) the name and address of the place of business where the transaction or attempted transaction occurred or the address of the customs office where the importation or exportation occurred, and the date the transaction, attempted transaction, importation or exportation occurred;

  • (b.1) the purpose of the transaction, attempted transaction, importation or exportation;

  • (c) in the case of an importation or exportation, the amount and type of currency or monetary instruments;

  • (c.1) in the case of a transaction or attempted transaction,

    • (i) the amount and type of currency, monetary instruments or virtual currency involved, or

    • (ii) if no currency, monetary instruments or virtual currency is involved, the value of the transaction or attempted transaction or the type and value of the funds or other remittances that are the subject of the transaction or attempted transaction;

  • (c.2) the rate of exchange used in relation to the transaction, attempted transaction, importation or exportation;

  • (d) in the case of a transaction or attempted transaction,

    • (i) the manner in which the transaction was conducted or the attempted transaction was to be conducted,

    • (ii) any transaction number, account number, institution number, branch number or similar identifying number involved,

    • (iii) the date on which any account involved is opened or closed, as well as its status,

    • (iv) the posting date,

    • (v) any identification number assigned to a person or entity referred to in paragraph (a) as part of the transaction or attempted transaction, and

    • (vi) the bank identification code or business entity identifier of any person or entity referred to in paragraph (a) that is a member of the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication;

  • (d.1) in the case of a transaction or attempted transaction involving virtual currency or an electronic funds transfer as defined in the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Regulations, transaction identifiers, including sending and receiving addresses, and any user name of a person or entity referred to in paragraph (a);

  • (d.2) in the case of a transaction or attempted transaction, the source of funds or of virtual currency and other related information including the name of the person or entity that is the source of funds or virtual currency, as well as the person or entity’s account number, policy number or identifying number associated with the funds or virtual currency;

  • (d.3) in the case of a transaction or attempted transaction that, in whole or in part, is conducted online, the type of device used to conduct the transaction or attempted transaction, as well as the date and time of the transaction or attempted transaction;

  • (d.4) in the case of a transaction, whether it was completed or not;

  • (d.5) in the case of an incomplete transaction or an attempted transaction, the reason it was not completed;

  • (e) the name, address, electronic mail address and telephone number of each partner, director or officer of an entity referred to in paragraph (a), and the address and telephone number of its principal place of business;

  • (f) any other similar identifying information that may be prescribed for the purposes of this section;

  • (g) the details of the criminal record of a person or entity referred to in paragraph (a) and any criminal charges laid against them that the Centre considers relevant in the circumstances;

  • (h) the relationships suspected by the Centre on reasonable grounds to exist between any persons or entities referred to in paragraph (a) and any other persons or entities;

  • (h.1) in the case of a transaction or attempted transaction involving an electronic funds transfer as defined in the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Regulations, any information in respect of the relationships that exist between any persons or entities connected in any way to the transaction or attempted transaction, including any person or entity that initiates or may benefit from it;

  • (i) the financial interest that a person or entity referred to in paragraph (a) has in the entity on whose behalf the transaction was made or attempted, or on whose behalf the importation or exportation was made;

  • (j) the name of the person or entity referred to in paragraph (a) suspected by the Centre on reasonable grounds to direct, either directly or indirectly, the transaction, attempted transaction, importation or exportation;

  • (k) the grounds on which a person or entity made a report under section 7 about the transaction or attempted transaction and any action taken by the person or entity as a result of the suspicions that led them to make the report;

  • (l) the number and types of reports on which a disclosure is based;

  • (m) the number and categories of persons or entities that made those reports;

  • (n) indicators of a money laundering offence or a terrorist activity financing offence related to the transaction, attempted transaction, importation or exportation;

  • (o) information about the importation or exportation sent to the Centre under Part 2;

  • (p) if the transaction is carried out by means of an electronic funds transfer as defined in the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Regulations, information about the transaction that is contained in a report made under section 9 and that is remittance information as defined by the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication;

  • (q) information about the transaction, attempted transaction, importation or exportation, received by the Centre from an institution or agency under an agreement or arrangement referred to in section 56, that constitutes the institution’s or agency’s reasonable grounds to suspect that the information would be relevant to investigating or prosecuting a money laundering offence or a terrorist activity financing offence, or an offence that is substantially similar to either offence;

  • (r) if an entity referred to in paragraph (a) is a trust, the name, address, electronic mail address and telephone number of every trustee and every known beneficiary and settlor of the trust;

  • (s) the name, address, electronic mail address and telephone number of each person who owns or controls, directly or indirectly, 25% or more of an entity referred to in paragraph (a), other than a trust, unless the trust is widely held or publicly traded; and

  • (t) information respecting the ownership, control and structure of an entity referred to in paragraph (a).