US sanctions eight Canadian currency exchange firms over Iran ties

The Treasury said some of the businesses also laundered their proceeds by converting Iranian rials and other currencies into digital assets such as cryptocurrency, adding that some of the businesses helped an alleged head of a drug trafficking ring. The sanctions effectively cut the firms off from the US dollar-based financial system, freezing any assets they hold in the US and barring them from transactions with American people or entities.

The businesses are based in Ontario and British Columbia and include Million Exchange, Amin Exchange and Cryptoyal, according to the Treasury.

US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement, "Canada cannot be a safe haven for illicit financial facilitators that provide sanctions evasion services to the Iranian regime and its proxies."

Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada (FINTRAC) issued a statement shortly after the announcement, saying that it worked with the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) to impose the sanctions against the money service businesses.

"FINTRAC works regularly with foreign financial intelligence units to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and sanctions evasion," the statement said. "Through bilateral agreements, the Centre is able to disclose intelligence to financial intelligence units worldwide."

In a separate statement on Friday, the US Treasury said FinCEN issued an order targeting the money exchanger MEXC Global. FinCEN said the order prevents US financial institutions from processing fund transfers involving Seychelles-incorporated MEXC Global, which it says has facilitated at least $16bn in illicit transactions linked to Iran, North Korea and Russia, as well as transactions with other sanctioned actors.

The sanctions campaign aims to "sever the economic lifelines that sustain the Iranian regime" and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which Canada also lists as a terrorist organisation, according to the Treasury.

On Wednesday, the US Treasury sanctioned a network in India and Turkiye that it accuses of helping Iran evade restrictions on its oil exports and airlines. The network is run by Suniel Kumar Sharma and his wife, Jaspreet Preeti Shahid, who are based in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh, the Treasury said.

Below is a list of the identified businesses in Canada: Diverse Trade Inc, doing business as Million Exchange in Ontario; 1380079 BC Limited, doing business as Amin Exchange in British Columbia; Top PC Technician Inc, operating in Ontario; NIA Nations Currency Ltd, based in British Columbia; 2397639 Ontario Ltd, doing business as Farah Exchange; CCC Inc in Ontario; B Galaxy Inc, doing business as Cryptoyal, from the same Ontario location as CCC Inc; Darvish Exchange in Ontario.