Lobby group the European Betting and Gaming Association has welcomed the EC’s proposed extension of money-laundering controls to gambling, saying it will help online operators in their ongoing battle against exclusion from national gambling markets.
The European Commission yesterday adopted two proposals aimed at strengthening EU defences against financial crime by increasing the traceability and transparency of internet transactions.
As expected, its update of the Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD) included extending its scope to include the whole gambling sector. The third AMLD dating from 2005 applies only to casinos, with “online casinos” being caught in its net by dint of the Directive applying to activities “performed on the internet”.
EGBA, whose membership includes bwin.party and Unibet, said that while the EU-licensed industry had been applying AML-standard controls against money laundering for a number of years, yesterday’s inclusion confirmed online gamblng’s status as a “clear cross-border economic activity covered by a growing number of EU-harmonised legislation”.
Secretary general of the Brussels-based lobby group, Sigrid Ligné, argued that this would potentially improve market access for regulated operators, “as some Member States today still use the fight against money laundering as a justification to prohibit online gambling services”.
EGBA added that it hoped the Member States would implement the provisions of the new AMLD in a consistent manner, by allowing egaming operators to evaluate money-laundering risks on a case-by-case basis, in keeping with the risk-based approach adopted under the new proposals.
The EU Commissioners said that flows of “dirty money” from illegal activities such as drug deals could damage the stability and reputation of the financial system, with Home affairs Commissioner Cecilia Malmström declaring that: “We must make sure that organised crime cannot launder its funds through the banking system or the gambling sector.”
According to recent reports, the Italian Mafia is currently a major beneficiary of the confused laws for online gambling in the EU’s largest economy of Germany, while Italy’s National Anti-Mafia Directorate also published a report detailing how organized crime continues to infiltrate legal gaming in Italy, with “a strong operation” recorded in online poker.
Article written by Stephen Carter
