FinCEN Imposes Record $80 Mio Penalty on Canaccord Genuity
March 6, 2026
FinCEN, the U.S. Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, has imposed an $80 million civil money penalty on Canaccord Genuity LLC, the largest BSA penalty ever levied against a broker-dealer, for willful violations of the Bank Secrecy Act.
FinCEN Director Andrea Gacki called the action a “wake-up call” to broker-dealers that fail to protect the financial system from illicit actors, emphasizing Treasury’s broader fight against fraud that harms investors and erodes market confidence.
Canaccord’s failures included maintaining an ineffective anti-money laundering (AML) program, neglecting risk-based customer due diligence, and failing to implement internal controls to detect suspicious activity. These deficiencies allowed numerous securities fraud schemes to go unreported, causing significant harm to innocent investors. The firm also onboarded high-risk customers with ties to illicit actors and neglected to file at least 160 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) covering dozens of over-the-counter securities and thousands of suspicious transactions.
As part of the resolution, Canaccord admitted it willfully violated the BSA by not developing a proper AML program, failing to conduct required due diligence on foreign correspondent accounts, and omitting mandatory SAR filings, thereby depriving law enforcement of critical information.
The Consent Order describes the civil penalty as follows:
FinCEN may impose a Civil Money Penalty of up $71,545 per day for willful violations of the requirement to implement and maintain an AML program. For each willful violation of the SAR reporting requirement, FinCEN may impose a civil money penalty not to exceed the greater of the amount involved in the transaction (but capped at $286,184) or $71,545. For each willful violation of the requirement to implement a risk-based due diligence program for correspondent accounts established, maintained, administered, or managed in the United States for foreign financial institutions, FinCEN may impose a civil money penalty “in an amount equal to not less than two (2) times the amount of the transaction,” but not more than $1,776,364.
After considering all the facts and circumstances, as well as the enforcement factors discussed above, FinCEN is imposing a Civil Money Penalty of $80 million in this matter. FinCEN has agreed to suspend $5 million of the Civil Money Penalty pending Canaccord’s compliance with the Undertaking set forth below, and to credit against the Civil Money Penalty payments of $20 million to the SEC and $20 million to FINRA. Accordingly, Canaccord shall make payment of $35 million to the Department of the Treasury pursuant to the payment instructions that will be transmitted to Canaccord upon execution of this Consent Order.
The FinCEN Press Release can be found here.
The FinCEN Consent Order can be found here.
The article “FinCEN Imposes Record $80 Mio Penalty on Canaccord Genuity” first appeared on G. Dowd Law on March 6, 2026.
George Dowd
Founding AttorneyGeorge Dowd is an attorney and also provides subject matter expert consulting services related to the foreign exchange, futures, cryptocurrency, and metals markets. He holds a B.A. in Economics from the College of the Holy Cross, a J.D. from the DePaul University College of Law, and is admitted to practice law in Illinois.
George has testified as an expert in proceedings before the National Futures Association, FINRA, the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), and the Federal Court of Australia. He served on the Board of Directors of the Global Digital Asset & Cryptocurrency Association in 2020 and 2021.
George has given presentations, or lectured, at the People’s Bank of China (Shanghai), the DePaul University Graduate School of Business, the National Futures Association, and the Chicago Bar Association’s Futures and Derivatives Committee, and has appeared frequently on CNBC, Bloomberg TV, and the Fox Business Network.
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