Karsten Wenzlaff, Advisor
August 26th, 2025
Karsten Wenzlaff is a Crowdfunding and Fintech Expert from Germany. He is Secretary-General of Digit[...]
FINTRAC Revocations Raise The Compliance Bar
May 26, 2026 | NCFA Insight | Risk Compliance And Regtech, Digital Assets Blockchain And Tokenization, Payments And Money Movement
Crypto, PSP, FX And Money Transfer Risk
Canada’s revoked MSB registry shows where payments, crypto, FX, and money transfer compliance risk is concentrated.
On May 21, 2026, FINTRAC modeified the public revoked money services business registry, currently showing 396 revoked registrations within the broader MSB registry of 7,745 firms. These revoked registrations span multiple years, but some quick analysis shows where payments, crypto, FX, and money transfer compliance risk is concentrated.
Revocations Peak In 2022 And 2026
Below we show the total number of revoked registrations (396) by revocation year:
- 2026: 151 revocations
- 2025: 23 revocations
- 2024: 16 revocations
- 2023: 16 revocations
- 2022: 144 revocations
- 2021: 22 revocations
- 2020: 8 revocations
- 2016: 10 revocations
- 2014: 2 revocations
- 2010: 2 revocations
- 2005: 1 revocation
- 2004: 1 revocation
See: Synctera Adds Compliance Testing To Banking Stack
The registry is cumulative, but 2022 and 2026 stand out with greater numbers. The 2022 spike may reflect several factors, including delayed compliance reviews, expired or inactive registrations, pandemic era business disruption, and firms failing to respond to FINTRAC requests or update operating information.
The 2026 peak shows revocations are active again, but the registry doesn't explain why each firm was removed.
A Closer Look At 2026 Revocations
Of the 151 registrations revoked in 2026:
- 139 included money transferring
- 132 included foreign exchange
- 117 included virtual currency
- 65 included PSP activity
- 10 with issuing and redeeming money orders
- 7 with crowdfunding
- 1 with cheque cashing
These activity counts exceed 151 because many businesses offered multiple services under one registration. They operated across money transfer, FX, virtual currency, PSP activity, and sometimes crowdfunding or money order services at the same time. That combination can make compliance harder because one firm may need controls for several activity types at once.
See: Age Checks Become Digital Compliance Infrastructure
Wallets, stablecoin services, remittance platforms, crypto OTC desks, merchant payout tools, and embedded finance products often cross several regulatory categories. Companies building in these areas need clearer service mapping, stronger AML controls, and faster regulatory response processes.
BC And Ontario Lead 2026 Revocations
By Province:
- British Columbia accounted for 72 revoked registrations
- Ontario accounted for 68
- Alberta had 4
- Quebec had 1
By City:
- Vancouver accounted for 58 revoked registrations in 2026
- Followed by Toronto with 27
- North York with 9
- Etobicoke with 7
- Ottawa with 6
- Richmond Hill with 5
- Richmond with 4
The above counts simply show where revoked registrations are concentrated in the dataset. Vancouver and Toronto are also major hubs for payments, FX, crypto services, incorporation activity, and cross border commerce, so higher counts likely reflect market density as well as supervisory attention.
MSB Registration Needs Daily Discipline
MSBs must keep records, verify client identity, maintain a compliance regime, report certain financial transactions, and register their business. FINTRAC can revoke registration when a business becomes ineligible, misses a clarification request deadline, fails to respond to information demands, fails to update operating information, or fails to assist the Centre.
See: Visa Canada And RemitBee Speed Up Cross Border Payments
Founders should treat MSB registration as an active regulatory relationship. Address changes, service category changes, ownership changes, agent changes, and compliance officer changes all need disciplined tracking. Compliance teams should also review whether real business activity still matches registered categories, especially where firms blend payments, crypto, FX, remittances, PSP activity, and embedded finance.
Investors should add registry hygiene, AML staffing, virtual currency exposure, PSP activity, and regulator response history to diligence checklists. Growth can hide weak compliance operations for a while, but public registries can make those weaknesses visible.
This all aligns with recent Canadian oversight changes, such as the Bank of Canada’s PSP Registry under the RPAA, new Bank of Canada guidance for PSPs, and FINTRAC’s focus on Bitcoin ATM money laundering risks.
Talking Point
Which crypto firm looks stronger to regulators, investors, and banking partners: one that treats compliance as paperwork, or one that builds it into the operating system?
The National Crowdfunding & Fintech Association (NCFA Canada) is a financial innovation ecosystem that provides education, market intelligence, industry stewardship, networking and funding opportunities and services to thousands of community members and works closely with industry, government, partners and affiliates to create a vibrant and innovative fintech and funding industry in Canada. Decentralized and distributed, NCFA is engaged with global stakeholders and helps incubate projects and investment in fintech, alternative finance, crowdfunding, peer-to-peer finance, payments, digital assets and tokens, artificial intelligence, blockchain, cryptocurrency, regtech, and insurtech sectors. Join Canada's Fintech & Funding Community today FREE! Or become a contributing member and get perks. For more information, please visit: www.ncfacanada.org
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