New Anti-Money Laundering Rules
Money laundering and terrorism financing are significant global problems and a growing concern for Canadians. To further the Law Society’s commitment to combat money laundering, changes to the Law Society rules were approved by the Benchers in June of 2019 and finalized on December 19, 2019. These changes tighten the rules for receipt of cash by lawyers as well as the client identification and verification rules. The new rules are now in effect as of January 1, 2020.
For additional information on how the new rules apply, see the Anti-Money Laundering , Practice Resources.
Background Information
Over the last several years Canadian law societies identified that to be effective a more robust set of rules was required. After consultation with the legal profession throughout Canada, the Federation of Law Societies changed the model rules in October 2018.
This model provided the direction for The Law Society of Manitoba’s own rule amendments and those introduced by other Canadian law societies. These amendments bring the rules applicable to lawyers in line with those that apply to other Canadian businesses that handle funds and are subject to the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC).
