The Remote Gambling Association is disappointed that the European Parliament decided to leave out internet gambling in a new Anti-Money Laundering Directive.
The European Parliament is planning to adopt amendment to the European Commission’s proposal for a new Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD).
The RGA said that it supports the objectives of the Directive, but it is disappointed that online gambling is being treated as a form where due diligence measures might have to be applied to all customers as soon as a business relationship is established. According to the association, this runs “completely counter” to the risk-based strategy that was characteristic of successive AMLDs.
Online operators would be required to conduct due diligence on every customer, which RGA believes would conflict with the “spirit” of the European Commission’s proposal and previous Directives.
“It is very difficult to see how an objective review of the facts, including the success of the third AMLD in combating money laundering, could have led Parliament to this conclusion. The licensed online gambling sector has highly developed tools for identifying possible threats and has an excellent record in preventing money laundering,” said Clive Hawkswood, chief executive of the RGA.
“As an industry we are never complacent, but quite simply there is no justification for singling out our sector for this kind of treatment. We have consistently supported a risk-based approach, which we consider to be the most suitable manner to tackle any problems and, of course, individual member states can introduce additional measures if there are specific issues within their jurisdictions.
“We hope now that the EU Council will reject the Parliament’s position on this issue and that the European Commission will defend its original stance,” continued Hawkswood. |
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