The Office of the Superintendent of Financial Institutions has issued a notice alerting financial firms to a new report from the Financial Action Task Force examining the financing for the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

OSFI’s notice is intended to provide information for financial institutions concerned with monitoring for transactions that may be related to proliferation financing.

It notes that the FATF report analyzes the threat of proliferation financing and methodologies used by proliferators and facilitators, and also provides information to help strengthen safeguards against this illicit activity. It contains a number of case studies, including several examples from Canada, which demonstrate how financial institutions and their products and services may be used to finance the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, OSFI says.