News

Canadian authorities crack down on operators of unlicensed ATMs

June 16, 2017

The Autorité des marchés financiers, the regulatory and oversight body for Québec's financial sector, has filed penal proceedings in the judicial districts of Terrebonne, Gatineau and Montréal against 13 businesses for operating ATMs without the required license.

"The AMF devotes a great deal of effort to remind private ATM operators of their obligation to hold a license and to display it on the ATMs they operate," AMF Enforcement Executive Director Jean-François Fortin said in a press release. "Those who don't comply with these requirements are liable to fines under the Money-Services Businesses Act."

The businesses involved operate under the following names:

• Bar de l'Île;
• Bar Les Plaisirs de Grenville;
• Bar O'Mulligans;
• Bar Windsor de Buckingham Inc.;
• Brasserie du Parc;
• Cabaret Moulin Rouge;
• Gym Max Lachute;
• Hôtel Deschenes;
• Jardin de Lin Ching Inc.;
• Resto-Bar Au Rendez-vous;
• Restaurant Labelle;
• Salon Bar le Verseau; and
• Taverne P'tit Canot.

Each business faces one count of operating a money-services business without a license and a minimum fine of $15,000.

The AMF collaborated with Revenu Québec in the enforcement action. In 2016, Revenu Québec agreed to share information about ATM operations gathered in connection with its own investigations.