Fifth EU Anti-Money Laundering Directive Comes into Force

The updated Money Laundering Regulations, which implement the 5th EU Money Laundering Directive, has come into force. The Gambling Commission (the Commission) has now also published the 5th edition of its guidance for remote and non-remote casinos on the prevention of money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism, which comes into force immediately.

As previously advised, the Commission recognises that it takes time to implement changes and we will take that into account, but we expect to see that operators have acted promptly, invested appropriately and implemented changes with the requisite urgency. Additionally, the publication of this updated guidance must result in casino businesses reviewing, and accordingly amending, their money laundering and terrorist financing risk assessments, as well as the associated policies, procedures and controls.

The Commission has also incorporated additional guidance in relation to the risk-based approach, risk assessments and risk-based customer due diligence.