Updated Money Laundering Regulations from the UKGC

By Simon Wright, Last updated Jan 27, 2021

The United Kingdom’s Gambling Commission have updated their regulations concerning anti money laundering measures which implements the EU’s 5th Money Laundering directive, which will come into force on the 10th January next year.

On the same date the Gambling Commission will also publish the 5^th edition of their guidance for remote and non-remote casinos on “The prevention of money laundering and combatting the financing of terrorism,” which will come into force immediately on publication.

Taken from the UKGC’s site, of which you can read in full here, are the main changes to the Money Laundering Regulations which are applicable to casinos:

• Taking appropriate measures in preparation for, and during, the adoption of new products or business practices and to assess and mitigate any money laundering risks arising from such adoption, in addition to the existing and similar requirement for new technology (regulation 19)
• Having specific policies, procedures and controls for the measures described above (regulation 19)
• Taking appropriate measures to ensure that any agents that operators use for the purposes of their business are given appropriate training in anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing (regulation 24)
• Further direction in relation to what information may be regarded as ‘obtained from a reliable source which is independent of the person whose identity is being verified’ (regulation 28)
• Further requirements for enhanced customer due diligence measures for high-risk third countries, complex or unusually large transactions, and where there are unusual patterns of transactions, or the transactions have no apparent economic or legal purpose, as well as customers who are beneficiaries of life insurance policies or the customer is a third country national who has received citizenship in an EEA state in exchange for the transfer of capital, purchase of property, government bonds or investment in corporate entities in the EEA state (regulation 33)

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