To bolster the anti-money laundering (AML) efforts of Europe's online gambling operators and help the industry in the battle against money laundering, the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has released the first-ever pan-European self-regulatory guidelines.
The EGBA stated that it will continue to "promote the highest level of industry responsibility" with the publishing of the standards.
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 recommendations offer helpful advice on topics including how to perform customer and company risk assessments, the connection between AML and safer gaming, enhancing customer cooperation and customer due diligence, as well as the obligations for reporting suspicious transactions.
Dr. Ekaterina Hartmann, Director of Legal and Regulatory Affairs, EGBA, stated, "We’re pleased to present the first ever pan-European industry standards on anti-money laundering for Europe’s online gambling sector."
"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," she said.
By fLEXI tEAM