Buy a Canadian MSB Registered Company
Buy Canada MSB
If you need to buy an MSB in Canada — whether you’re launching a payment platform, a remittance corridor, a crypto exchange, or scaling an existing fintech operation into a regulated Canadian presence — you’ve got two paths. Register from scratch with FINTRAC and wait five to six months to find out if they’ll approve you. Or acquire a ready-made MSB that’s already registered, already compliant, and can be transferred to your name in a matter of hours.
We sell ready-made Canadian MSB companies. FINTRAC-registered, fully compliant, covering all five permitted activity categories. The ownership transfer is executed remotely — DocuSign, scanned signature, whatever works for you — and the corporate register is updated the same day. No flights to Toronto. No six-month wait. No risk of refusal.
We keep both options in stock: FINTRAC-only MSBs and FINTRAC + RPAA packages where the Bank of Canada application is already prepared and filed the day you buy. More on that below.
What You Get When You Buy an MSB from Us
Every ready-made MSB we sell is a Canadian company with an active FINTRAC registration that covers all five permitted Money Services Business activities:
- Foreign Exchange — currency exchange and FX dealing
- Money Transferring — remittance and cross-border transfers
- Issuing and Redeeming Money Orders — money orders, traveller’s cheques, and similar negotiable instruments
- Dealing in Virtual Currencies — crypto-to-fiat, fiat-to-crypto, crypto-to-crypto exchange
- Payment Service Provider (PSP) — payment processing and related services
Most ready-made MSBs on the market cover two or three activities. Some cover four. Ours cover all five. That means you won’t be going back to FINTRAC six months from now to add virtual currency dealing or PSP activity — it’s already there.
The company also comes with a complete AML/CTF compliance program that was built as part of the original FINTRAC registration. Policies, procedures, risk assessment, training records, transaction monitoring framework, compliance officer appointment — everything FINTRAC requires is in place. You inherit it. Your new compliance officer can be anyone you appoint, including yourself as director.
Two Options — FINTRAC Only or FINTRAC + RPAA
We currently have plenty of both types available:
Option A — FINTRAC MSB (All 5 Activities)
The standard ready-made. FINTRAC-registered with all five activity categories, full compliance program, clean corporate history. Ownership transfer in hours.
Best for: buyers who need a regulated Canadian entity quickly and will handle PSP/payment infrastructure separately or don’t require Bank of Canada authorization.
Option B — FINTRAC MSB + RPAA
Everything from Option A, plus the RPAA (Retail Payment Activities Act) application is already prepared and ready to file with the Bank of Canada. We file it on the day you purchase — you don’t lift a finger. The RPAA covers payment service providers who safeguard customer funds, and it’s administered by the Bank of Canada separately from FINTRAC.
Best for: buyers who plan to process or safeguard end-user payment funds and need both the FINTRAC MSB registration and Bank of Canada authorization from day one.
Building an RPAA application from scratch takes months of work on top of the FINTRAC registration. With our ready-made, it’s already done — filed the same day you buy.
How the Transfer Works — Three Steps, Done in Hours
The process is exactly as simple as it sounds.
Step 1. You sign the share sale contract. This happens remotely — DocuSign, scanned signature, email exchange. No travel to Canada required.
Step 2. We update the corporate register with your details as the new shareholder, director, and officer. Your name goes into the company records.
Step 3. Your details are in the register. You are the legal owner of the company — and of its FINTRAC MSB registration.
We notify FINTRAC immediately. Not “within 30 days” as a deadline we push to the last minute — we do it right away, on the same day. FINTRAC records the change of ownership. That’s all they do. There’s no approval process, no review committee, no waiting period. FINTRAC acknowledges ownership changes; it doesn’t approve or refuse them the way it does fresh registrations.
If you chose the RPAA option, the Bank of Canada application is filed the same day as well.
The entire process — from signed contract to your name in the register to FINTRAC notified — takes a matter of hours. Compare that to five or six months of building a registration from scratch, and the economics speak for themselves.
Register vs. Buy — Why the Ready-Made Route Exists
This is worth spending time on, because from the outside the two options can look roughly equivalent. They’re not. The gap is enormous once you factor in everything a fresh FINTRAC registration actually requires.
Fresh registration: what’s really involved
FINTRAC registration isn’t a form you fill in. To submit a complete application, you need to build an entire compliance infrastructure first: a full AML/ATF policies and procedures manual, a formal risk assessment tied to your specific business model, a compliance officer formally appointed with documented responsibilities and a training plan, KYC procedures for each customer type, transaction monitoring systems capable of flagging suspicious activity, reporting processes for suspicious transactions, large cash transactions, and electronic funds transfers, and employee training documentation covering all of the above.
Then you submit. Then FINTRAC reviews. That review takes months — realistically five to six, sometimes longer when there’s a backlog. And here’s the part that matters most: FINTRAC can refuse your application. If they do, everything you built — the policies, the risk assessment, the compliance program — sits unused while you figure out what went wrong and whether to try again.
Ready-made: what actually happens
You sign a contract. A few hours later, you own a registered MSB with all five activities, a complete compliance program, and a clean FINTRAC record. No approval risk. No six-month uncertainty. The compliance infrastructure that would have taken you weeks to build is already in place and was already accepted by FINTRAC as part of the original registration.
| Fresh Registration | Ready-Made MSB | |
|---|---|---|
| Timeline | 5–6 months (often longer) | Hours |
| Can FINTRAC refuse? | Yes — it’s an approval process | No — change of ownership is notification only |
| Compliance program | Build from scratch | Already in place, transfers with the company |
| AML policies | Write and implement yourself | Done — FINTRAC-compliant, ready to use |
| Compliance officer | Appoint and document from scratch | Appoint your own (can be you as director) — role framework already exists |
| Risk | High — months of work with no guarantee | None — entity is already registered and approved |
| Activities covered | Only those you apply for | All 5: FX, Money Transfer, Money Orders, Virtual Currency, PSP |
| Remote process? | Partially | Fully remote — DocuSign or scanned signature |
The maths are straightforward. If you’re entering the Canadian market and your business plan includes any combination of payments, remittance, FX, or crypto — and you don’t want to spend half a year finding out if the regulator will say yes — the ready-made route eliminates the entire risk.
For Crypto Companies — Your MSB Is Your Crypto Licence
If you’ve been searching for a “crypto license in Canada,” here’s what you need to know: there isn’t one. Not as a separate category, anyway.
What Canada has is MSB registration with FINTRAC, and one of the five permitted activity categories is “dealing in virtual currencies.” A company registered under that category can legally exchange fiat to crypto, crypto to fiat, crypto to crypto, and provide virtual asset payment services. That’s what every other jurisdiction would call a crypto license. In Canada, it’s just an MSB with the right activity ticked.
Our ready-made MSBs include the virtual currency category as standard — it’s one of the five activities covered. There’s no separate application, no additional regulator, no second filing. You get it as part of what you’re buying.
Worth noting: Canada’s virtual currency framework is relatively pragmatic compared to what’s happening in Europe. Tokens are permitted. Wallets are fine. KYC kicks in above CAD 1,000 z�� below that threshold, lighter-touch requirements apply. There’s no blanket prohibition on specific coin types, no equivalent of the EU’s MiCA restrictions on privacy coins or algorithmic stablecoins. For crypto businesses that need a regulated presence in a credible jurisdiction without the regulatory weight of a full EU framework, Canada is one of the more accessible options available right now.
Canadian MSB vs. European Alternatives
For international operators evaluating where to establish a regulated entity, the comparison usually comes down to speed, cost, and scope.
| Canadian MSB | EU EMI License | EU MiCA / CASP | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Minimum capital | None | €350,000+ | €50,000–€150,000 |
| Setup time (fresh) | 4–6 months | 12+ months | 12+ months |
| Setup time (ready-made) | Hours | Rarely available | Rarely available |
| Local office required? | No (for some structures) | Yes — office + local team | Yes — country presence |
| Scope | Payments + FX + Crypto + Remittance + PSP | E-money and payments only | Crypto services only |
| Crypto included? | Yes — virtual currency is a standard MSB activity | No — requires separate licence | Yes — but with strict obligations |
| Compliance burden | Moderate (AML/CTF focused) | Heavy reporting and audits | Strict EU crypto rules + fines |
The EU route gives you passporting across 27 member states — that’s its strength. But it takes a minimum of 12 months, requires substantial capital, mandates local staff, and if you want to handle crypto alongside payments, you need two separate authorizations (EMI + MiCA). A Canadian MSB covers payments, FX, remittance, crypto, and PSP under a single registration — and our ready-made can be yours today.
Payment Accounts and Virtual IBANs
An MSB registration gives you the legal foundation. What it doesn’t automatically come with is banking infrastructure. We can introduce you to EMI and PSP partners who onboard FINTRAC-registered MSBs — including virtual IBAN solutions for receiving and routing international payments.
This is an optional service we offer after acquisition. Not every buyer needs it immediately, but for those building out payment infrastructure alongside their regulatory status, the introduction network saves months of cold-calling banks that may or may not be comfortable with MSB clients.
About Our MSB Inventory
We maintain a live stock of FINTRAC-registered Canadian MSBs — both FINTRAC-only and FINTRAC + RPAA options. All entities are clean: no operational history to untangle, no legacy clients, no outstanding compliance issues. AML programs are current. Companies are in good standing.
Contact us to discuss which option matches your business model, your target activities, and your timeline. We’ll shortlist the most appropriate entities from what’s currently available and walk you through the specifics of each one.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a ready-made MSB in Canada?
A ready-made MSB is a Canadian company that’s already incorporated and holds an active FINTRAC registration as a Money Services Business. Instead of applying for fresh registration — which takes five to six months and can be refused — you acquire the company through a share sale and inherit its registration, compliance program, and FINTRAC status. It’s also referred to as a shelf MSB, turnkey MSB, or MSB registered company for sale.
How long does the MSB ownership transfer take?
Hours. You sign the share sale contract remotely, we update the corporate register with your details, and we notify FINTRAC the same day. There’s no approval process for ownership changes — FINTRAC records the new owner, it doesn’t decide whether to allow it.
What activities can I operate under this MSB?
All five FINTRAC activity categories: Foreign Exchange, Money Transferring, Issuing and Redeeming Money Orders, Dealing in Virtual Currencies, and Payment Service Provider. Every ready-made MSB we sell covers the full suite — not a limited subset.
Is an MSB the same as a crypto license in Canada?
Effectively, yes. Canada doesn’t issue a separate crypto license. Crypto businesses register as MSBs under the “dealing in virtual currencies” activity category. Our ready-made MSBs include this category, so you’re covered for crypto-to-fiat, fiat-to-crypto, and crypto-to-crypto exchange activities from day one.
Do I need to be in Canada to buy an MSB?
No. The entire process is handled remotely. The share sale contract is signed via DocuSign or scanned signature. You don’t need to travel to Canada, maintain a Canadian address personally, or be a Canadian citizen or resident.
What happens with FINTRAC after I buy?
We notify FINTRAC of the change of ownership immediately after the corporate register is updated. This is a notification — not an application. FINTRAC cannot refuse a change of ownership. They record the updated details and that’s it. There’s no waiting period, no review committee, no risk that your transfer gets rejected.
What is the difference between MSB and FMSB?
An MSB is a Canadian-incorporated company registered with FINTRAC. An FMSB (Foreign Money Services Business) is a foreign company providing financial services to Canadian clients without incorporating in Canada. Both require FINTRAC registration, but the corporate structure, tax treatment, and operational requirements differ. Our ready-made entities are Canadian MSBs — fully incorporated Canadian companies.
What is RPAA and do I need it?
RPAA stands for Retail Payment Activities Act. It’s a separate regulatory framework administered by the Bank of Canada (not FINTRAC) that applies to payment service providers who process or safeguard customer funds. If your business model involves holding or safeguarding end-user money, you’ll likely need RPAA registration on top of your MSB. We offer ready-made MSBs with the RPAA application already prepared — it’s filed the day you buy.
How much does a ready-made Canadian MSB cost?
Contact us for current pricing. The cost depends on the entity type (FINTRAC-only vs. FINTRAC + RPAA), activities covered, and any included banking relationships or operational infrastructure. We’re transparent about pricing once we understand your requirements.
Can I add or change MSB activities after purchase?
Your MSB is already registered for all five activity categories, so there’s nothing to add. If your business model evolves and you need to update other registration details with FINTRAC (like address, directors, or compliance officer), those changes are submitted through FINTRAC’s update process — which we can support you with.
What compliance obligations do I take on as the new owner?
You inherit the company’s existing compliance program — AML/ATF policies, risk assessment, KYC procedures, and reporting obligations. You’ll need to appoint a compliance officer (this can be you, as director), maintain the monitoring and reporting systems, and ensure ongoing compliance with PCMLTFA requirements. The framework is already built — you’re maintaining it, not creating it from scratch.
What about banking? Will a bank accept my MSB?
Banking is separate from registration, and we won’t pretend it’s automatic. MSB banking can be challenging — many traditional banks are cautious with money services businesses. That said, we work with a network of EMI and PSP partners who regularly onboard FINTRAC-registered MSBs, including virtual IBAN solutions. We can make introductions after your acquisition closes.
How does buying a ready-made MSB compare to registering fresh?
Fresh registration takes five to six months, requires you to build a complete compliance program from scratch, and FINTRAC can refuse your application. A ready-made MSB transfers in hours, comes with a complete compliance program already accepted by FINTRAC, and the change of ownership is a notification — not an approval process. You eliminate both the timeline and the risk.
Is this a licence or a registration?
Technically, it’s a registration — FINTRAC doesn’t issue “licences” in the formal sense. But functionally, MSB registration is what allows you to legally operate money services in Canada, and the market commonly refers to it as an “MSB licence.” Both terms describe the same thing.
