Treasury sanctions eight Canadian money services businesses under Iran order

The Treasury Department’s Office of Foreign Assets Control on Friday, Nov. 6, placed eight money services businesses based in Canada on its sanctions list under Executive Order 13902, which Treasury says targets Iran’s digital asset sector.¹²

Treasury says the companies help Iran’s government, sanctioned Iranian entities and others move money into and out of Iran, partly by swapping Iranian rials and other currencies for digital assets. These designations are U.S. government determinations, not court findings or convictions. Descriptions of conduct below are Treasury’s.¹

Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said, “Canada cannot be a safe haven for illicit financial facilitators that provide sanctions evasion services to the Iranian regime and its proxies,” and that Treasury “will pursue and disrupt the Iranian regime’s financial channels anywhere in the world.”¹ Treasury presented the action as part of Operation Economic Outcast, a campaign it began in August, and said it was coordinated with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, with FINTRAC, Canada’s financial intelligence unit, and with the Drug Enforcement Administration.¹

Who was designated

OFAC lists all eight as “other monetary intermediation” businesses, tagged [IRAN-EO13902], each with a note on secondary sanctions risk. Names and locations are from OFAC’s list, with aliases in parentheses.²

• Diverse Trade Inc (Million Exchange), Richmond Hill and Toronto, Ontario, and Montreal
• 1380079 BC Ltd (Amin Exchange Vancouver), North Vancouver, British Columbia, and Montreal
• Top PC Technician Inc (Amin Exchange Toronto), North York and Thornhill, Ontario
• NIA Nations Currency Ltd (NIA Exchange), Vancouver and North Vancouver, British Columbia
• 2397639 Ontario Ltd (Farah Exchange), North York, Ontario
• CCC Inc (C Exchange, Sarafi C), North York, Ontario
• B Galaxy Inc (Cryptoyal), North York and Thornhill, Ontario
• Darvish Exchange (Kanata MD Inc), Richmond Hill and North York, Ontario

Each entry also lists Canadian registration and money services business numbers, and four include digital currency addresses on the Tron network.²

What Treasury says the firms did

Treasury says several of the companies sent or received digital assets through addresses tied to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps or to terrorism, or dealt with Iranian exchanges the U.S. had already sanctioned, including Nobitex, Wallex, Ramzinex and Bitpin, designated June 2, 2026, and Aban Tether Exchange and Shelbit, designated Aug. 7, 2026. It gives amounts for some firms only in rough terms, such as “hundreds of thousands of dollars.”¹

Treasury also says some of the firms converted cash from drug sales into digital assets sent abroad, including for a Canadian drug trafficker the U.S. had already sanctioned, and that the businesses were still operating, with several having changed names or addresses.¹

What the designation does

Under the action, any property of the eight companies that is in the United States or held by U.S. persons is blocked and must be reported to OFAC, as is any entity owned 50% or more by them. U.S. persons are generally barred from dealing with them unless OFAC authorizes it, and foreign parties that deal with them can face sanctions exposure.¹

Canada’s side

As of Saturday afternoon, no statement on the sanctions from FINTRAC, Public Safety Canada or the Department of Finance Canada could be found. FINTRAC’s notices page lists no item on it; its most recent Iran-related notice, dated June 23, 2026, announced updated guidance, a reporting form and technical documentation for the Ministerial Directive on the Islamic Republic of Iran.³ Reuters, in a report carried by The Times of Israel, said the businesses are in Ontario and British Columbia.⁴

What the records do not show

Treasury’s release does not say what role FINTRAC played or give total transaction values, dates for the conduct it describes, or how many customers the firms served. It does not say whether Canadian authorities have taken or plan any action of their own against the companies, and no criminal charges against the companies appear in the release. The companies’ responses were not available.