News

AMF revises Money-Services Businesses Act

December 15, 2011

The Autorite des Marches Financiers has announced that it will be making adjustments to the proposed regulatory framework for the Money-Services Businesses Act following the consultation held in June 2011.

A number of the amendments suggested by the AMF are intended to reduce the administrative burden on money-services businesses resulting from the original proposed regulatory framework. These amendments, which were published yesterday in a notice from the AMF, will shortly be submitted for approval to the minister of finance and the government. The proposed amendments include:

• The elimination of the security requirement. This requirement will be re-evaluated at a later date for classes of license other than the class relating to the operation of ATMs.
• The elimination of the requirement to file a daily summary of transactions. However, operators of ATMs will have to be able to provide to the AMF, at its request, information on their daily transactions.
• The modification of the time limit within which an MSB must inform the AMF of any change in the information regarding employees whose functions are not related to the money services offered. MSBs will be required to report these changes on an annual basis.
• The reduction from $350 to $200 of the annual fee for the operation of an ATM.
• The removal of certain administrative fees.

The regulation under the Money-Services Businesses Act and the regulation respecting fees and tariffs are expected to come into force on April 1, 2012. However, the statutory and regulatory provisions dealing with the operation of ATMs are expected to come into force on Jan. 1, 2013. As of each of these dates, MSBs will have a six-month transition period within which to file an application for a license with the AMF.

The new act, which is administered by the AMF, will require MSBs to hold a license issued by the AMF in order to operate in the following sectors:

• Currency exchange
• Cheque cashing
• Funds transfers
• The operation of ATMs
• The issue or redemption of traveler's checks, money orders or bank drafts.

For more information on this topic, visit our regulatory issues research center.