Financial Crimes Agency Act

This bill creates a brand-new federal law enforcement body called the Financial Crimes Agency, run by a Commissioner appointed by the federal cabinet and reporting to the Minister of Finance. Its job is to investigate serious and complex financial crimes, such as money laundering and offences that threaten Canada's economy or financial markets, and to help recover the proceeds of crime. The Agency can start investigations on its own or work with other police forces and public bodies in Canada or abroad, and its staff can be designated as "investigations officers" or, under certain conditions, as full police officers with the powers of peace officers across Canada. The Agency will also have an arrangement with the RCMP to draw on its services when needed.

The bill sets out how the Agency will be governed: the Commissioner has broad authority over staffing and operations, subject to some ministerial direction on major policy matters, which must be made public. It also clarifies the roles of the Attorney General of Canada and provincial attorneys general in prosecuting financial crimes investigated by the Agency, including a mechanism (a "fiat") for the federal Attorney General to claim exclusive authority to prosecute certain cases. The Agency must report annually to Parliament, and the law itself will be reviewed after five years. A public complaints process is created for people who have concerns about the conduct of Agency employees designated as police officers, handled through the existing Public Complaints and Review Commission.

Finally, the bill makes a long list of consequential amendments to other federal laws and regulations — including the Access to Information Act, Privacy Act, Financial Administration Act, Criminal Code, Immigration and Refugee Protection Act, and others — simply to add the new Agency and its Commissioner to existing lists of government bodies, so that rules on things like information-sharing, staff pensions, and property management apply to the new Agency in the same way they apply to other federal departments and agencies.

This bill creates the Financial Crimes Agency, a federal law enforcement body with its own Commissioner, investigators, and designated police officers who can investigate financial crimes and pursue proceeds of crime.

• Who leads it — a Commissioner appointed by the Governor in Council (Cabinet) for up to five years, renewable to a maximum of ten years, holding the rank of a deputy head and the powers of a peace officer everywhere in Canada.
• Investigative reach — the Commissioner may investigate any financial crime or related federal offence, on their own initiative or at the request of any domestic or foreign law enforcement or public body, and may designate Agency employees as investigations officers or as full police officers with peace-officer powers.
• Ministerial direction — the Minister of Finance may issue directions to the Commissioner on matters affecting public policy or the Agency's strategic direction; these directions are not classified as statutory instruments and are made public only after being issued, not before.
• Prosecutorial authority — the Attorney General of Canada may conduct proceedings for financial crimes investigated under this Act, and may issue a "fiat" giving Canada exclusive authority over a case even where a province would otherwise prosecute, based on factors the Attorney General weighs at discretion (e.g., whether the offence is transnational or involves the "national interest").
• Human resources control — the Commissioner has exclusive authority to hire, classify, assign, and terminate Agency employees, largely outside the normal Financial Administration Act and labour relations framework, subject only to Treasury Board approval of negotiating mandates.
• Information sharing and complaints — the Agency may enter agreements with any person or entity for information-sharing on financial crimes; regulations (left to future Cabinet decision) will set criteria for designating police officers and establish a complaints-review entity; oversight includes an annual report tabled in Parliament and a five-year review, but no sunset clause ends the Agency itself.