The United States has imposed sanctions on eight Canadian currency-exchange businesses accused of helping Iranian entities circumvent financial sanctions.
The US Department of the Treasury announced the measures on Friday as part of what it calls "Operation Economic Outcast."
The Treasury said some of the businesses also laundered proceeds by converting Iranian rials and other currencies into digital assets, including cryptocurrency. Some of the firms are also accused of assisting an alleged head of a drug trafficking ring.
"Canada cannot be a safe haven for illicit financial facilitators that provide sanctions evasion services to the Iranian regime and its proxies," US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in a statement.
According to the Treasury, the businesses are based in Ontario and British Columbia. They include Million Exchange, Amin Exchange, and Cryptoyal, among others.
The sanctions effectively cut the firms off from the US dollar-based financial system, freezing any assets they hold in the United States and barring them from transactions with American individuals or entities.
Canada's Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) issued a statement shortly after the Treasury's announcement, saying it had worked with the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) in connection with the action against the money service businesses.
"FINTRAC works regularly with foreign financial intelligence units to combat money laundering, terrorist financing and sanctions evasion," the statement read. "Through bilateral agreements, the Centre is able to disclose intelligence to financial intelligence units worldwide."
In a separate statement on Friday, the Treasury said FinCEN, its anti-money laundering unit, issued an order targeting the money exchanger MEXC Global. The order prevents US financial institutions from processing fund transfers involving the Seychelles-incorporated platform, which FinCEN says has facilitated at least $16 billion in illicit transactions linked to Iran, North Korea, and Russia, as well as transactions with other sanctioned actors.
The Treasury said its broader sanctions campaign aims to "sever the economic lifelines that sustain the Iranian regime" and the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC), which Canada also designates as a terrorist organisation.
On Wednesday, the Treasury sanctioned a separate network in India and Turkey accused of helping Iran evade restrictions on its oil exports and airlines. That network is run by Suniel Kumar Sharma and his wife, Jaspreet Preeti Shahid, who are based in the northern Indian city of Chandigarh.
The US claimed last week that the campaign had pushed Iran's rial to new lows and driven inflation to approximately 90 percent.
The eight Canadian businesses identified in the sanctions are: Diverse Trade Inc, operating as Million Exchange, in Ontario; 1380079 BC Limited, operating as Amin Exchange, in British Columbia; Top PC Technician Inc, in Ontario; NIA Nations Currency Ltd, in British Columbia; 2397639 Ontario Ltd, operating as Farah Exchange; CCC Inc, in Ontario; B Galaxy Inc, operating as Cryptoyal, from the same Ontario location as CCC Inc; and Darvish Exchange, in Ontario.
