EGBA Introduces New Guidelines to Prevent Money Laundering in Gaming Industry

EGBA (European Gaming and Betting Association) has announced new guidelines to improve the anti-money laundering controls for the gaming industry.

The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) is working hard to stop illicit money transfers in the industry. The association has recently announced new standards and guidelines, including its anti-money laundering leadership. It invited online gambling operators to implement new laws in their daily operations to help them comply with EU laws and regulations and avoid money laundering within their organisations. 

These standards are included in the first pan-European guidelines. This initiative from EGBA is a step ahead in Europe’s fight towards eradicating money laundering from the online gambling sector. 

Europe’s experts in AML compliance have analysed the guidelines and added revisions to make them easier to implement. The new rules propose the use of modern technologies in the process and everything is prescribed in accordance with the current law. EGBA is on a mission to improve the implementation of AML guidelines and encourage the organisation’s responsibility. 

The proposed guidelines cover all major aspects such as money laundering and terrorist financing. The advice is practical and each sector has its own customised rules. It will advise online gambling operators on how to evaluate the potential risks of both customers and businesses, also the CDD (Customer Due Diligence processes.  The operators will be informed by reporting any suspicious activity and transactions, maintaining all the necessary AML records and other potentially problematic activity that authorities need to be aware of. 

The guidelines will be applied on the whole EU territory and will soon be part of AML regulation that will help the operator deliver the best outcomes. EGBA expects annual reports from all the firms operating in the gaming industry to evaluate the performance of the new rules. 

Dr Ekaterina Hartmann, Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs at EGBA, said: “As the sophistication of financial crime continues to evolve, the publication of these AML guidelines demonstrates EGBA’s commitment to ensure that Europe’s online gambling sector actively contributes towards the fight against financial crime. There’s currently a lack of sector-specific guidance to help Europe’s online gambling operators in their AML compliance efforts and these guidelines provide a valuable tool to fill this gap and help operators achieve the highest possible standards.”

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