Bookmakers News – Bookmakers and Money Laundering

Bookmakers given the all-clear as casinos come under suspicion

Bookmaker News

As many of five online casino companies could be facing losing their licence to operate after industry regulator, the Gambling Commission, warned they were not doing enough to stop criminals using their websites to launder money. The commission has reportedly written to 17 online casino companies outlining its findings on their controls against money laundering, potential terrorist financing and problem gambling.

The regulator said it was already considering a licence review for five of the firms as a result of its early conclusion which could see them being stripped of the legal right to operate in the UK. The commission has said it had identified failings, not just in money-laundering controls but also in social responsibility provisions designed to protect problem gamblers. It also said the companies were not volunteering information about suspicious activity to law enforcement agencies such as the National Crime Agency.

Considering it was only October when the UK government published its National Risk Assessment on money-laundering and July last year when a consultation on the same subject took place, the Gambling Commission has rightly taken a dim view of casino firms not taking adequate steps in problem areas but bookmakers have largely escaped the increased scrutiny.

The UK Treasury, which has the final say, decided last March that areas of the gambling industry are suitably policed with regard to money-laundering and that latest National Risk Assessment (NRA) views bookmakers as comparatively low-risk. As with everyone else, they still remain bound by both the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 and the Gambling Act 2005 but are not subject to any additional measures, even though Betfred and Coral were both fined in 2016 for not properly vetting high-stakes punters, who were obtaining their stake money via criminal acts.

Both bookmakers have since tightened up their AML (Anti Money Laundering) procedures since and police figures suggests there is only a very small percentage of the criminal fraternity who try and launder money via high street or online bookmakers and they tend to be small fish in big ponds, though there is still no real evidence that betting firms are giving training to front-line staff to help spot potential money-laundering. However, new customers shouldn’t believe they are entering a murky world in which criminals are lurking at every turn and every bet is scrutinised. The only Big Brother in the bookmaking world is that taking place in the Big Brother house!