Finance Minister Eric Girard acknowledged on Tuesday that Quebec will have to “do better” to regulate cryptocurrencies, in the wake of the revelations of The Press on the vagueness that surrounds this industry.
Posted at 7:00 a.m.
“It is certain that [dans] supervision and monitoring of cryptocurrency, we must do better, he said in a press briefing. We have a working group that includes the Canada Revenue Agency, Revenu Québec, the AMF, and the Department of Finance. We will continue. And it is certain that we must tighten the supervision of cryptocurrencies. »
The Press revealed on Monday that Revenu Québec, which is responsible for issuing permits to companies in this sector, does not know the number of cryptocurrency ATMs in the province. There are more than 270 of these machines in Quebec, according to the Coin ATM Radar site.
Users can buy up to $1,000 in bitcoins and other virtual currencies there with cash without showing identification, a situation that facilitates money laundering, according to several law enforcement agencies.
Our investigation also revealed that the owner of one of the most popular ATM companies – Montreal’s Instacoin – has business ties with the head of a mafia clan. Revenu Québec did not want to “confirm or deny whether an investigation process is underway” about this company.
The federal Department of Finance said on Tuesday that criminals and their associates are “prohibited from operating a virtual currency business regulated under the Act.” As a result, “they cannot register with FINTRAC (Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Center of Canada)”.
“Extremely worrying”
Liberal MP and former finance minister Carlos Leitão said the information contained in the investigation was “extremely worrying”. The Press. According to him, the crypto counters that are multiplying are “an ideal way to launder money”.
Mr. Leitão was Head of Finance in 2016 when The Journal of Montreal had revealed the existence of numerous traditional illegal counters. It was in the wake of this scandal that he decided to transfer responsibility for the counters from the Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF) to Revenu Québec.
PHOTO YAN DOUBLET, LE SOLEIL ARCHIVES
Liberal MP and former finance minister Carlos Leitão
Revenu Québec finally became responsible for applying the Money Services Businesses Act in September 2021. This law governs, among other things, cryptocurrency counters. “Come on, Revenu Québec, hurry up and check out those machines! “Launched the former minister in an interview.
At Québec solidaire, MP Ruba Ghazal described as “very worrying” the fog in which Revenu Québec navigates as to the actual number of these counters. “It is time for the government to legislate on this Wild West that is the cryptocurrency industry. »
The Parti Québécois finance spokesperson, Martin Ouellet, believes that the government is “closing its eyes” in this matter. “We endorse counters that make life easier for money laundering and organized crime transactions. The government must put an end to its laxity and obtain information and look into the management of these counters, or even ban them. »
Quebec created a committee in April 2021 which aims in particular to tackle fraud and money laundering in cryptocurrencies. Its members have met seven times.
With the collaboration of Tommy Chouinard, The Press