Danish regulator releases revised anti-money laundering guidance
Operators must now obtain information from “reliable and independent” sources
Management-level individuals will now be responsible for ensuring operator compliance with Denmark’s anti-money laundering (AML) laws, under new guidance released by the Danish Gambling Authority (DGA).
The new standards state that the overall responsibility for compliance with these laws will rest with top management for the first time.
In addition, these individuals will now have a “personal responsibility” to ensure adequate control measures and procedures are in place within the company in respect to AML.
Operators will also be required to provide the name and resumé of any individual appointed as an AML officer. Their experience and competency to conduct AML duties will then be assessed by the DGA.
If the person undertaking these duties departs, the DGA must be informed and a competency-based assessment of his or her replacement carried out.
Additionally, the guidance stipulates a non-mandatory guideline that operators should appoint an individual with responsibility for company implementation of AML requirements at executive board level.
Also, operators are required to ensure that identity verification documentation obtained from a customer must be verified by “information derived from a reliable and independent source”.
The DGA has said this can comprise of any online identity verification method which is “known, approved or accepted” by competent national authorities.
In addition to utilising reliable and independent sources, Danish-licensed operators must ensure that sourced identity information is current and valid.
If an operator considers “increased risk” concerning a customer being verified, the DGA states that operators should undertake a further verification of that customer.
The updated guidance also includes a requirement for the DGA to provide feedback on any investigations conducted into money laundering, together with the number of investigations taking place to the Danish Money Laundering Secretariat, every six months.
In December, the DGA issued a warning to 888 Holdings over AML issues, claiming the operator had “not sufficiently” fulfilled its obligations under Section 25 of the Danish Money Laundering Act.
The warning came after the DGA found that a customer deposited more than DKK1m without providing source-of-funds documentation.