The United States Treasury said on Friday, November 6, that it has imposed financial sanctions on eight money services businesses based in Canada, alleging that they facilitated transactions with sanctioned Iranian entities and helped move money for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC). The designations, announced by the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control (OFAC), are part of a campaign the department calls Operation Economic Outcast.

Source: Reuters via 98.5 The River

The eight businesses operate in Ontario and British Columbia. The Treasury named them as Diverse Trade Inc., doing business as Million Exchange; 1380079 BC Limited, doing business as Amin Exchange; Top PC Technician Inc.; NIA Nations Currency Ltd.; 2397639 Ontario Ltd., doing business as Farah Exchange; CCC Inc.; B Galaxy Inc., which operates as Cryptoyal; and Darvish Exchange. Reporting by The Bureau said six of the firms are in the Toronto area and two are in the Vancouver area, and that each holds a money services business registration in Canada.

What the Treasury alleges the firms did

According to the Treasury and a US State Department statement, the businesses exchanged Iranian rials and other currencies for digital assets, allowing sanctioned Iranian actors to move money into and out of Iran. Several firms are alleged to have sent funds to digital-asset accounts linked to the IRGC and to have transacted with sanctioned Iranian exchanges, including Nobitex, Wallex, Bitpin and Ramzinex, which the United States designated in June 2026. These are US government allegations; the firms' own responses were not reported in the initial coverage.

"Canada cannot be a safe haven for illicit financial facilitators that provide sanctions evasion services to the Iranian regime and its proxies," Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent said in the statement announcing the designations.

The sanctions block any property the businesses hold in the United States or under US control and generally bar US persons and entities from dealing with them, effectively cutting the firms off from the US dollar-based financial system, CBC reported. The Treasury said the action was coordinated with Canada, including its financial intelligence unit FINTRAC, working with the US Financial Crimes Enforcement Network, FinCEN.

The Ryan Wedding allegation

The Treasury also alleged that three of the eight businesses helped Ryan Wedding, a Canadian accused by US authorities of running a major cocaine-trafficking network, launder bulk cash from criminal activity by converting it into digital assets. Wedding is in US custody facing criminal charges, CBC reported via The Bulletin. That link is also a Treasury allegation and has not been tested in court in connection with these firms.

Separate order against MEXC Global

In a separate measure the same day, FinCEN issued an order cutting the virtual-currency exchanger MEXC Global off from the US financial system. The Treasury said MEXC facilitated at least $16 billion in transactions linked to sanctions evasion by Iran, North Korea and Russia between May 2021 and May 2026 — $16 billion, yaani about 1,600 crore US dollars. The order bars US financial institutions from processing transfers for the Seychelles-based platform.

Why it matters in Canada

Currency exchanges and money services businesses in Toronto and Vancouver handle everyday remittances for immigrant communities across Canada, including Punjabi and other South Asian families sending money home. The designations name only these eight businesses — no allegation has been made against their ordinary customers — but anyone who has used one of the named firms may find US-linked transfers blocked while the sanctions stand.

The move is the latest in a series of Treasury actions against firms outside the United States that Washington says help Iran get around US sanctions, as the US keeps up financial pressure on Tehran during the ongoing US-Israel war on Iran. What happens next will depend on whether the named firms challenge the designations, and on whether Canadian regulators announce any separate action of their own.