The Gambling Commission talks about terrorist risks and money laundering

 When it comes to handling anti-money laundering (AML) in the betting industry, the Gambling Commission has laid out key trends and new threats. They have also pointed out that operators are not "appropriately" looking over customer data.
 John Pierce, the enforcement head of the Gambling Commission, spoke at the Gambling Anti-Money Laundering Group Training Day on February 12. He talked about the most important things the watchdog has learnt about AML practices.  

 The Commission has told operators that they should look over their customer records and how they keep an eye on things.  It's done this way to make sure that customer risk profiles match the "full range of risk," which includes things like product risk, customer transactions, and area.

 Pierce said that a number of "customer triggers" are not working to stop money laundering and foreign terrorist funding.

 Pierce pointed out processes that don't "properly" look at a customer's income and wealth, so they don't notice when they're spending money in strange ways.

 The Commission thinks that operators "over-rely" on self-declarations and open-source data when it comes to preventing money laundering and funding for terrorism.

 One more mistake that was made was letting huge amounts of money change hands before any AML review of the customer had happened.

 Risk is also raised when operators don't check their own data and only depend on financial triggers.

 Pierce said that when operators decide if they need to get more information from customers, they should think about "realistic and effective monetary and non-monetary thresholds."  Pierce said that users should be able to talk to you right away, early on in the customer interaction.

 The Commission thinks that providers are not following their own rules when they need to find out where the money is coming from during the review process.

 Pierce said, "We expect source of funds information to be asked for based on risk, but when it is asked for, it shouldn't be seen as a checkbox exercise."

 "It is important that staff are given enough instructions on how to look over documents and spot red flags, as well as how to confirm information about where funds come from and how to keep track of their decisions,"

 New threats to the internet
 The enforcement head of the Commission also talked about some new threats that the agency is dealing with, such as the rise of crypto and AI.

 Pierce said there have been more cases of customers using AI to fake IDs and details about where their money comes from.

 The watchdog has seen more cases of "ID farming," a scam in which bad players collect personal information to open bank accounts that are then used to play games.

 Additionally, the number of mule accounts (user accounts used to launder money) and scams in the betting industry has grown.

 Pierce also said that crypto currencies are not a new risk, but the problems they cause are getting worse.

 "As crypto currencies become more popular, we expect more payment service providers to accept them."  Pierce said that operators need to fully understand the services that their payment companies offer.

 The gaming Commission said earlier this month that the gross yield from online gaming in Great Britain rose 21% year-over-year in the fourth quarter of 2024 to £1.54 billion (€1.85 billion/$1.92 billion).  Online bets and spins went up by 8% year-over-year to a total of 25.9 billion.

 Even though the number of average monthly active player accounts dropped by 3% in the fourth quarter, this is still the case.