The European Gaming and Betting Association has welcomed the European Commission’s anti-money laundering proposals and reaffirms its commitment to work with all relevant regulatory bodies to combat money laundering in the EU.
The European Union’s anti-money laundering rules are set to be updated and reinforced after the European Commission published proposals for two AML regulations and a revision of the current EU AML Directive.
The Commission’s proposals follow concern and criticism in recent years that some EU member states have not sufficiently implemented and enforced the EU’s current AML rulebook.
Dr. Ekaterina Alexandrova Hartmann, director of legal and regulatory affairs at the European Gaming and Betting Association, noted: “We welcome the efforts of the European Commission to continuously improve the EU framework for combating money-laundering.
“EGBA members already apply the highest regulatory standards in AML compliance and are fully committed to tackling money laundering in the online gambling sector. To support this, we are working closely with our members to develop EU-wide, sector-specific guidelines to help Europe’s online gambling companies comply with the increasingly complex AML rules in the EU.”
The proposed regulations, whilst aimed at financial services, are expected to impact Europe’s online gambling sector, including rules on beneficial ownership, customer due diligence and the establishment of new EU AML authority.
The legislative package will now go through the EU legislative process and will be sent to the European Parliament and Council for discussion and ultimately approval, which might take upwards of 18 months.
Once approved, the regulations will immediately enter into force in all EU member states, and the Directive will need to be transposed into national regulation by EU member states.
EGBA will analyse the future implications of the proposed changes for the AML compliance requirements of Europe’s online gambling sector. To ensure the best possible application of the EU’s AML rulebook, EGBA is preparing a set of sector-specific guidelines for Europe’s online gambling companies. The guidelines will be published later in 2021.
