http://www.newswire.ca/en/releases/archive/May2011/10/c2956.html

TORONTO, May 10 /CNW/ - Banks and other financial institutions required to report to FINTRAC need more sophistication and variety in their reporting of suspicious transactions, FINTRAC Director Jeanne Flemming told an anti-money laundering conference here today.

In her keynote address to an annual Forum on Anti-Money Laundering, Ms Flemming said the report she released today, Trends in Canadian Suspicious Transaction Reporting, was an in-depth analysis of 300,000 suspicious transaction reports (STRs) received since 2001 to identify trends. STRs provide very valuable information allowing FINTRAC to help police and other agencies investigate money laundering and terrorist financing and other threats to the security of Canada.

"Our analysis revealed that the reporting entities are good overall at submitting STRs concerning structuring activities and the placement stage of money laundering but they are not doing nearly so well when the laundering concerns the layering and integration stages. The layering stage involves converting the proceeds of crime into another form and creating complex layers of financial transactions to disguise the audit trail, and the source and ownership of funds. The integration stage involves placing the laundered proceeds back in the economy to create the perception of legitimacy."

"New compliance obligations that came into force in 2008, require reporting entities to expend more effort in identifying their highest money laundering and terrorist financing risks. We hope to see an increase in the level of variety and sophistication in STR reporting in the future. The purpose of this report is to provide strategic financial intelligence feedback to help reporting entities conform to these new obligations," said Ms. Flemming.

The Centre believes that Canadian reporting entities can make a real difference in the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing through the identification and reporting of suspicious transactions. Not only does money laundering and terrorist financing threaten the integrity of Canada's financial system, but these activities are fundamentally at odds with Canadian values and interests, and pose serious risks to the safety, security and prosperity of all Canadians.

FINTRAC is an independent federal government agency with a mandate to assist in the detection, deterrence and prevention of money laundering and the financing of terrorist activities. FINTRAC analyzes financial transaction reports and discloses financial intelligence to law enforcement and CSIS where it has reasonable grounds to suspect that the information would assist in the investigation of money laundering and terrorist activity financing offences or threats to the security of Canada.

FINTRAC is part of Canada's Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Activity Financing Initiative. The initiative is led by the Department of Finance and includes the RCMP, CSIS, Public Safety Canada, Canada Revenue Agency, Canada Border Services Agency, Communications Security Establishment Canada and the Department of Justice.

The Director's keynote address and the report Trends in Canadian Suspicious Transaction Reporting are available at www.Fintrac-canafe.gc.ca