Financial intel agency hands down $7.4M penalty to Royal Bank of Canada

The Royal Bank of Canada is facing a 7.4-million-dollar penalty for non-compliance with anti-money laundering and terrorist financing measures.

The Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada handed down the penalty, saying the R-B-C's violations include failing to submit suspicious transaction reports where there were reasonable grounds to suspect ties to money laundering.

Fintrac tries to pinpoint money linked to illegal activities by electronically sifting through millions of pieces of information each year from banks, insurance companies, money service businesses and others.

That intelligence is then disclosed to police and other law-enforcement agencies.