The Globe and Mail reports in its Thursday, March 12, edition that Canaccord Genuity Group was hit with a record $100-million fine last week for conducting trades for a Russian oligarch's financial fixer to evade sanctions. The Globe's Jameson Berkow writes that the United States Treasury Department's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) announced that this penalty is the largest ever imposed on a broker-dealer for violating the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act. Documents behind the regulator's findings show that Canaccord served as a tool for multiple scammers and a financial consultant that helped Russian billionaires close to President Vladimir Putin hide their assets. "Canaccord's willful failure to implement controls resulted in Canaccord being used by illicit actors engaged in securities fraud," FinCEN said in a statement. In 2017, Canaccord opened an account for a Cyprus-based investment company owned by a man referred to as "individual 2" and his children. Over three years, the firm's assets grew by over 400 per cent, but this rapid growth was not included in its risk profile, highlighting Canaccord's failure to properly monitor the account, according to FinCEN.