FINTRAC and OFAC: Eight Canadian MSBs Sanctioned Over Iran, and 161 MSB Registrations Revoked in 2026

On November 6, 2026, FINTRAC said it "coordinated with the United States Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) and the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in the imposition of sanctions against eight Canadian money services businesses." The same statement says FINTRAC has revoked 161 MSB registrations since the start of 2026. If you run an MSB, or any of your clients or counterparties is one, here are the eight names, the figures FINTRAC published, and the Iran directive you already apply.

The Eight Businesses OFAC Designated

OFAC added all eight to its Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) List on November 6, 2026, under Executive Order 13902, "for operating in the digital asset sector of the Iranian economy." Each SDN entry lists a Canadian MSB registration number. Four of the entries also list TRX digital currency addresses.

Names, aliases and locations are taken from the OFAC entries, which also give street addresses, incorporation numbers, websites and the digital currency addresses.

What the US Treasury Says They Did

The Treasury press release says the eight "facilitate the exchange of Iranian rials and other currencies for digital assets to enable international transactions involving Iran." It says many of them transacted with sanctioned Iranian digital asset exchanges, naming Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin, Ramzinex, Aban Tether Exchange and Shelbit, and with digital asset addresses associated with Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

Treasury also says several of the eight worked with Ryan Wedding, a Canadian drug trafficker OFAC has sanctioned, who used couriers to take bulk cash to money exchange businesses in the Vancouver and Toronto areas that convert it to digital assets to send abroad. It says the businesses "remain operational" and that several "have changed their business names and addresses in an attempt to evade detection and enforcement actions." The action is part of Operation Economic Outcast, which Treasury says it launched in August.

FINTRAC's statement does not name the eight businesses. It says the PCMLTFA prohibits FINTRAC from disclosing compliance actions in relation to specific businesses, except in a public notice of an administrative monetary penalty.

What FINTRAC Said About MSBs

The statement lists FINTRAC's own actions on MSBs:

• 161 MSB registrations revoked since the beginning of 2026, "more than the last three years combined."
• Nine MSBs penalized for more than $198 million over the past year, for violations "including failing to register with FINTRAC and failing to report large virtual currency transactions."
• 28 MSB non-compliance cases disclosed to law enforcement over the past year.
• More than $56 million in cryptocurrency seized by the RCMP Money Laundering Investigative Team in September 2025, in an investigation that found a business involved failed to register with FINTRAC as an MSB.

FINTRAC's results for 2025-26 list 82 MSB registrations revoked in that fiscal year, up from 12 the year before, and describe the $176 million penalty on Xeltox Enterprises Ltd., operating as Cryptomus, as "the largest penalty in its history." We covered those figures in our annual report post.

Registration and the Offence for Operating Without It

Section 11.1 of the Act requires money services businesses and foreign money services businesses, among others, to register with FINTRAC. Section 11.19 requires renewal "every two years or within any longer prescribed period."

Under subsection 74(1), knowingly contravening section 11.1 is an offence. The maximum on summary conviction is a fine of $2,500,000, imprisonment for two years less a day, or both. On conviction on indictment, it is a fine of $5,000,000, imprisonment for five years, or both. FINTRAC's statement attributes the increase to Bill C-12, passed in March 2026. Our post on Bill S-8 covers the further MSB registration changes introduced in the Senate on November 3, 2026.

The Iran Ministerial Directive Applies to Every Reporting Entity

FINTRAC's directive guidance, updated June 23, 2026, says that as of November 15, 2025 the directive applies to "every person or entity referred to in section 5" of the Act. For every financial transaction originating from or bound for Iran, regardless of amount, you must:

• treat it as a high-risk transaction for the purposes of subsection 9.6(3) of the Act;
• verify the identity of any client requesting or benefiting from it;
• exercise customer due diligence, with particular attention to the risk of a sanctions evasion offence, including the source of the funds or virtual currency, the purpose of the transaction, and the beneficial ownership or control of any entity involved;
• keep a record of it; and
• report it to FINTRAC.

The guidance lists "transactions involving Iranian rial, such as a deposit to an account, currency exchange, or virtual currency transaction" among the transactions that may count as originating from or bound for Iran. For an electronic funds transfer below $10,000 reported under the directive, and for a directive report filed as a Suspicious Transaction Report, the guidance says to select 'IR2020' in the Ministerial Directive field. The guidance also requires you to assess whether you hold property owned or controlled by or on behalf of a listed person or entity, and if so to file a Listed Person or Entity Property Report. Our June post covers the June 2026 update to the guidance.

The SDN List and Canada's Own Sanctions List

As of November 11, 2026, none of the eight names or the aliases OFAC lists appears on Global Affairs Canada's Consolidated Canadian Autonomous Sanctions List.

Canada made its own Iran listings the same week. Global Affairs Canada's Iran sanctions page says that on November 5, 2026, Canada amended the Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations to list eleven entities "previously delisted in 2016 following the implementation of the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA)." The backgrounder, published November 10, names them, including Bank Melli Iran, Bank Mellat, the Export Development Bank of Iran and the National Iranian Oil Company. It says the Regulations "prohibit persons in Canada and Canadians abroad from conducting specified financial or property transactions" with listed entities.

On the US side, the Treasury release says property of the designated businesses "in the United States or in the possession or control of U.S. persons" is blocked and must be reported to OFAC. It also says "financial institutions and other persons may risk exposure to sanctions for engaging in certain transactions or activities involving designated or otherwise blocked persons," and that non-US persons are prohibited from causing US persons to violate US sanctions.

FINTRAC Has Penalized an MSB Under the Iran Directive

On September 2, 2025, FINTRAC imposed a penalty of $224,235 on Commerciale I.C. - Pacific Inc., a Montréal MSB, for five violations. According to the public notice, the examination found 110 instances between March 1 and August 31, 2022 where the directive's electronic funds transfer reporting obligation was not met. Its policies and procedures did not cover the directive, so FINTRAC found it non-compliant from July 25, 2020. That violation is classified as very serious. The business has appealed to the Federal Court.

Eight Questions to Check Against Your Program

1. Is your MSB registration current, and is your next renewal on your calendar? PCMLTFA sections 11.1 and 11.19.
2. Do your written policies and procedures cover the Iran Ministerial Directive? FINTRAC directive guidance, section 3, and the Commerciale I.C. - Pacific Inc. notice, violations 2 and 5.
3. Can you identify a transaction involving Iranian rial, including a currency exchange or virtual currency transaction? FINTRAC directive guidance, section 3.1.
4. Do you obtain the source of funds or virtual currency, the purpose, and the beneficial ownership for each such transaction, in any amount? FINTRAC directive guidance, section 3.3.
5. Where the guidance calls for it, do you select 'IR2020' in the Ministerial Directive field, and does each report reflect the connection to Iran? FINTRAC directive guidance, section 5.1.
6. Have you compared your clients and counterparties against the eight SDN entries, their aliases and their listed digital currency addresses? OFAC sanctions list update, November 6, 2026.
7. Do you assess whether you hold property of a listed person or entity, and file a Listed Person or Entity Property Report when you do? FINTRAC directive guidance, section 3.3.
8. Does the list you screen against include the eleven Iranian entities Canada listed on November 5, 2026? Special Economic Measures (Iran) Regulations, as amended November 5, 2026, and the Global Affairs Canada backgrounder of November 10, 2026.

Bottom Line

OFAC designated eight Canadian MSBs on November 6, 2026, in an action FINTRAC says it coordinated on. FINTRAC says it has revoked 161 MSB registrations in 2026 and penalized nine MSBs more than $198 million over the past year. The Iran Ministerial Directive applies to every reporting entity, for transactions of any amount.

In FINTRAC's words, it "works regularly with foreign financial intelligence units to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and sanctions evasion."