Addressing the compliance and KYC imperative as economic sanctions have become governments’ new “go to” measure

• Overview of the sanctions compliance and enforcement regimes.
• Obligations to freeze assets, reporting to RCMP, prohibitions against dealings and facilitation.
• Key differences between Canadian and other (US, UK, EU) measures.

“Fallout” and lessons learned from Russia sanctions

• New and emerging issues.
  • Determining whether you can do business with entities who may be owned or controlled by sanctioned persons.
  • Interpreting Canada’s new “deemed ownership rule”.
  • Responding to new information demands from Global Affairs Canada.
  • New government seizure and ascertained forfeiture powers over property of sanctioned persons.
  • New FINTRAC “sanctions evasion” reporting obligations.
• Dealing with inconsistencies and conflicts among the sanctions regimes of Canada and its allies.
• Strategies for addressing compliance challenges in an environment of no government guidance.
• Preparing for the next major sanctions target – China.

Human trafficking and modern slavery are happening across Canada. The Fighting Against Forced Labour and Child Labour in Supply Chains Act, 2023 (Modern Slavery Act) has brought forward significant reporting obligations. This session will help you understand modern slavery, identify risks in the supply chain and implement policies, processes and monitoring to detect and avoid forced labour to comply with the new legislation.

• Detecting human trafficking.
• Key indicators for victims and traffickers.
• Leveraging tools to detect patterns of behaviour.

Statistically, almost half of Canadians have acknowledged being victims of fraud (so the real number is likely higher).

• What are the fraud trends?
• Complex and evolving security threats.
• How are we fighting back?
• How can industry better support the fight?

The rise of cryptocurrencies and virtual assets presents new challenges for AML efforts. While some cryptocurrencies offer greater privacy and anonymity, others, like Bitcoin, are increasingly subject to regulatory oversight. Regulators are focusing on implementing measures to ensure that virtual asset service providers (VASPs) comply with AML regulations.

• Challenges
• Are there solutions?
• Best practices

Experts estimate that housing prices in British Columbia are 3.7 per cent to 7.5 per cent higher than they would be in the absence of money laundering. Canada’s anti-bribery enforcement rate has been called “exceedingly low;” There is a general lack of detailed statistics on foreign bribery detection sources, mutual legal assistance, and enforcement to allow Canada, to assess the effectiveness of efforts to combat foreign bribery.

• Level of perceived corruption.
• Canada’s role in globalization of corruption – Why is Canada considered a safe haven for corrupt actors to launder?
• Types of corruption including bribery, diversion of public funds and more.
• Need for effective prosecution of corruption cases, adequate legal frameworks, access to information, and legal protections for whistleblowers, journalists and investigators.