UK online casinos cracking down on money laundering

Online casinos operating with licensing from the United Kingdom Gambling Commission will be subject to Britain’s new money laundering regulations effective 26th June 2017.

The new Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017 was released by the HM Government last week, replacing the now obsolete Money Laundering Regulations 2007. The review is part of the governments 2016 Action Plan to safeguard against money laundering and terrorism.

The updated regulations aim to make it harder for terrorists and criminals to move money illegally through the UK financial system, while making it easier for businesses to identify and report any suspicious activity. The rules apply to all businesses that deal with the exchange of money, including online casino operators.

In line with the UK Gambling Commission’s standards, all online casino vendors will be required to carry out stringent checks to ensure all money changing hands through their cashier system is from a legitimate source and is not being used to fund terrorism.

The Commission’s program director Richard Watson said, “We welcome the new regulations, which supports our licensing objective of keeping gambling crime free.

“We are currently in the process of revising our anti-money laundering guidance to reflect the new regulations – operators are reminded they need to take their anti-money laundering responsibilities seriously and implement the necessary changes.”

HM Economic Secretary to the Treasurer, Stephen Barclay, said the new regulations aimed to make UK a hostile environment for illicit finances.

“These new rules will tighten our defences, protect the integrity of our financial system and help protect the British public from terror attacks and criminal activities,” he said.

The UK Gambling Commission has been taking serious measures to make sure online gambling licensees understand the need to raise standards across the industry. Along with implementing the new money laundering regulations, the Commission has been targeting online operators who have been exploiting customers with unfair or unclear promotions and bonuses, and imposing fines for gambling companies that break advertising guidelines.

The Commission has also updated its Remote Gambling and Software Technical Standards to give online players better systems to monitor their gambling habits, with all online gambling operators required to implement the new regulations by 1st April 2018.

In light of the UKGB’s commitment to improving safety and fairness in the online gambling industry, we remind online players to stick with casino sites that have been licensed by reputable online gambling jurisdictions.