The head of Canada’s anti-money-laundering (AML) watchdog is stepping down as Ottawa overhauls its approach to fighting financial crime and braces for the results of an international audit of its controls, The Logic reported Friday.

Sarah Paquet’s term as director and chief executive of the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada, known as FINTRAC, concludes Sunday, according to the report. A FINTRAC spokesperson confirmed the departure in an email and told The Logic that deputy director of intelligence Stéphane Sirard is currently acting director and CEO and will continue to serve “until further notice.”

A person familiar with the matter separately told The Globe and Mail that Paquet is leaving at the end of her 5-year term. FINTRAC directors can serve for a maximum of 10 years and Paquet has held the post since November 2020, The Logic said. 

Paquet’s leadership of the financial intelligence unit was not without its controversy. AML experts criticized the relatively modest C$9.2-million penalty FINTRAC levied against TD Bank in 2024 for failing to prevent money laundering—a monetary penalty dwarfed by the USD $3-billion penalty U.S. regulators imposed for the same conduct, according to the outlet. The same year, a cyberattack on the agency took down the system Canadian small businesses use to report suspicious transactions for months, The Logic said. 

A 2022 inquiry into suspected money laundering in British Columbia separately flagged FINTRAC’s “ineffectiveness,” finding that Canada has “no comprehensive economic crime strategy, no real understanding of the money-laundering threats facing the country, and no meaningful evaluation of the effectiveness of the anti–money-laundering measures put in place by the federal government.”

Paquet’s departure comes as Canada awaits the results of a recent comprehensive international review of its money-laundering controls by the Financial Action Task Force, according to the news report.

Canadian officials have been taking steps to better identify and prosecute financial criminals. In April’s spring economic update, Ottawa outlined the powers and budget for a new specialized police force called the Financial Crimes Agency, with a mandate to investigate everything from money laundering to corruption, both on its own and in partnership with existing law enforcement agencies, The Logic said.