US sanctions eight Canadian money-transfer firms over Iran-linked digital asset transactions

The United States has sanctioned eight Canadian money services businesses accused of facilitating financial transfers connected to Iran, expanding restrictions on digital asset transactions and increasing compliance risks for institutions processing cross-border payments.

The measures, announced by the US Treasury’s Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC) on 6 November, target companies that authorities say enabled the conversion of Iranian currency and other funds into digital assets used for international transfers.

According to the Treasury, several of the businesses processed transactions involving previously sanctioned Iranian exchanges or digital asset addresses associated with the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC).

The designated entities include businesses operating under the names Million Exchange, Amin Exchange, NIA Nations, Farah Exchange, CCC Inc, Cryptoyal and Darvish Exchange.

The Treasury also alleged that some of the businesses facilitated money laundering connected to Canadian drug trafficker Ryan Wedding, with cash proceeds converted into digital assets and transferred internationally.

The action forms part of Operation Economic Outcast, an initiative intended to disrupt financial channels allegedly supporting sanctioned Iranian organisations and their intermediaries.

For banks and other financial institutions, the immediate consequence is an expansion of the sanctions-screening requirements associated with transactions involving the designated businesses.

Under US sanctions rules, property belonging to designated entities that falls within US jurisdiction is blocked, while US persons are generally prohibited from conducting transactions with them unless an exemption or authorisation applies.

The restrictions can also affect international financial institutions where transactions involve US persons, US jurisdiction or other circumstances creating sanctions exposure.

The designations were coordinated with Canada’s Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) and the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network.

FINTRAC separately disclosed that it had revoked the registrations of 161 money services businesses since the beginning of 2026, exceeding the number revoked over the preceding three years combined. Those wider regulatory actions should not be confused with the eight US designations.

The development highlights the increasing interaction between digital asset settlement, conventional payment systems and financial crime controls.

Although the designated businesses are money-transfer and exchange providers rather than conventional trade-finance lenders, their alleged activities illustrate the counterparty risks facing institutions that process international commercial payments.

For banks supporting cross-border trade, the principal implication is the need to identify prohibited counterparties and indirect exposure through intermediaries, particularly where digital assets, multiple jurisdictions and opaque payment chains complicate transaction monitoring.