The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has published the first ever pan-European self-regulatory guidelines to strengthen the anti-money laundering (AML) efforts of Europe’s online gambling operators and support the sector in the fight against money laundering.
As noted by the EGBA, the publication of the guidelines continues its commitment to “promote the highest level of industry responsibility”.
The EGBA stated: “The EGBA guidelines on fighting money laundering and terrorist financing contain best practice industry standards, which online gambling operators should apply across their entire EU and EEA operations.
“The guidelines apply a risk-based approach and include sector-specific guidance to support a high standard of compliance with EU, national and supranational AML rules.”
The guidelines include practical guidance on issues such as how to conduct customer and business risk assessments, the relationship between AML and safer gambling, customer due diligence and improving cooperation during the process, and suspicious transaction reporting requirements, among others.
“We’re pleased to present the first ever pan-European industry standards on anti-money laundering for Europe’s online gambling sector,” said Dr Ekaterina Hartmann, Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs, EGBA.
“Preventing online gambling from being used to hide the proceeds of crime is an important test for Europe’s gambling operators – but there’s currently very little sector-specific guidance to help operators in their compliance efforts. We hope these guidelines will fill this gap and lay strong foundations for the sector to achieve the highest possible standards in AML compliance.
“It’s important to gather expertise across the sector and we invite stakeholder feedback on the guidelines to ensure that, together, the sector can contribute positively and proactively to Europe’s fight against money laundering.”
