Operators subject to new money laundering directive
European directive must be written into member states' national law in next two years, with operators forced to comply or face fines
The European Parliament has passed a new anti-money laundering (AML) directive which could have major implications for egaming operators within the EU.
The news was welcomed by the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) as it means that operators who operate across Europe will now have to adhere to a single, unified AML directive, instead of country-by-country legislation.
“EGBA has actively engaged with the EU institutions to include online gambling in the new directive,” Maarten Haijer, secretary general of EGBA, said. “It should ensure that EU online gambling providers now have one rather than 28 sets of AML rules to comply with to provide their services in the EU,” he added.
Member states will now have two years to transpose the directive into law, which gives financial intelligence units greater power to track suspicious exchanges of money, and reduces the cash sum institutions can accept unquestioned.
It also creates new powers to fine financial institutions up to 5 million or 10% of their annual turnover, if they fail to conduct due diligence on customers or report suspicious transactions
But Haijer added he believes the impact on operators should be mostly positive as Europe’s egaming operators are already broadly in compliance with the regulations.
“Thanks to the perfect traceability of transactions and the already existing identification tools used by online gambling operators, EGBA is confident that the directive will further add to the safe provision of EU regulated online gambling services,” Haijer said.