Expanded AML Reporting: Title Insurers, Private ATMs

Summary#

This is a proposed set of changes called the Regulations Amending Certain Regulations Made Under the Proceeds of Crime (Money Laundering) and Terrorist Financing Act (Property Reporting, Title Insurers, Private Automated Banking Machines, Unrepresented Parties in Real Property or Immovables Transactions and Casino Disbursement Reporting), published on July 6, 2024 by the Department of Finance. It would broaden who must report and what information must be kept and shared, especially for property transactions, title insurers, private automated banking machines and casino disbursements. The rules are a proposal (not law yet) and comments are invited for 30 days after publication.

What it does#

This proposal would make several types of changes across anti‑money‑laundering rules:

• Expand who counts as a “listed person or entity” for property reporting to include people or bodies targeted under the Special Economic Measures Act and the Justice for Victims of Corrupt Foreign Officials Act (Sergei Magnitsky Law), and to clarify foreign‑state listings.
• Require more detailed reporting when property is suspected to be owned or controlled by a listed person or entity, adding fields such as how the link was found, identity details, intermediaries, transactions in the prior six months, and measures taken by the reporter.
• Add a new block of fields (Schedule 2, Part C.1) to collect contact, identification and business details about a listed person or entity that owns or controls property.
• Define and bring title insurers into the set of businesses covered by the rules, and require them to:
  • Keep an information record for each policy sold.
  • Record the legal description, purchase date and price, source of funds or virtual currency, mortgage or loan details (if known), and related parties (e.g., real estate agents, lien holders).
  • Verify identities of buyers and corporate entities in line with the regulations.
• Create new record‑keeping and registration requirements for businesses that provide acquirer services for private automated banking machines (private ATMs), including:
  • Owner/lessor/operator and cash owner details, settlement account holders, terminal ID, machine brand/model/serial, cash capacity, location, source of cash and how it is transported.
  • Add related fields to the registration form used by such businesses.
• Tighten who must be identity‑checked in real estate deals:
  • Require real estate brokers and sales reps to verify parties not represented by a broker.
  • Require an information record for every person or entity for which an agent acts in a purchase or sale, including unrepresented parties.
• Extend the list of professions required to take reasonable steps to check for politically exposed persons (PEPs) to include title insurers, and set a reporting/PEP check trigger for cash or virtual currency receipts of $100,000 or more.
• Require casinos to collect more information about the person or entity on whose behalf a disbursement is received.
• Set a staged coming‑into‑force schedule for different parts of the amendments, including a number of provisions that would come into force on October 1, 2025 and others tied to the timing of related acts.

Who's affected#

• Businesses and people that will notice the biggest changes:
  • Title insurers (newly covered and must keep more records and verify identities).
  • Operators, owners, lessors and acquirers of private automated banking machines (private ATMs).
  • Real estate professionals: brokers, sales representatives and developers — especially when dealing with unrepresented buyers or sellers.
  • Mortgage administrators, mortgage brokers and lenders who appear in property records.
  • Casinos (must collect more information about who benefits from payouts).
  • Accountants, dealers in precious metals and precious stones, and British Columbia notaries (named in the PEP rules).
  • Any business that reports suspicious property linked to listed persons or entities.
• People who buy or sell real estate, especially unrepresented parties, and anyone who uses or supplies cash to private ATMs may be asked for more identity and source‑of‑fund information.
• The rules target transactions involving people or entities listed under sanctions, the Special Economic Measures Act, or the Sergei Magnitsky Law — so those connected to sanctions or designated persons are specifically in scope.
• Some timing details depend on when other laws come into force; that schedule is complex and may affect when each group must comply.

Why it matters#

• The government says the changes aim to make it harder to hide illicit funds in real estate, private ATMs and casinos by forcing more checks and record‑keeping. That could reduce money‑laundering and make sanctions harder to evade.
• For businesses, this means new compliance tasks and likely extra time and cost to collect and keep the additional information. Title insurers and private ATM operators will face especially big new data requirements.
• For buyers and sellers of property, and people using private ATMs or casinos, the changes could mean being asked for more ID and for source‑of‑fund documentation, and might slow some transactions.
• The proposal is not final. Interested parties had the opportunity to comment for 30 days after publication, with contact details given in the notice if people wanted to submit feedback.