AML & financial crime.
12 topics — the frameworks, checks and reporting duties that make gambling operators obliged entities, from onboarding to the MLRO.Reference, not advice. This explains the AML framework at a professional-reference level for understanding — it is not legal advice and not an operational compliance manual. Every figure is last-verified and cited; regimes shift, so confirm against the primary source.
| Year | Regulator | Party | Penalty | Reason |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2023 | UKGC | William Hill group (WHG (International), Mr Green, William Hill Organization) | £19.2m | Record UK settlement for widespread anti-money-laundering and social-responsibility failings across the group's brands |
| 2022 | UKGC | Entain (LC International / Ladbrokes Coral) | £17m | Then-largest UKGC penalty for AML and social-responsibility failures across online and land-based businesses |
| 2022 | UKGC | 888 UK Limited | £9.4m | AML and social-responsibility failings, including letting customers deposit up to £40,000 before source-of-funds checks |
| 2023 | UKGC | Kindred Group (32Red £4.2m + Platinum Gaming / Unibet £2.9m) | £7.1m | Combined penalty for AML and social-responsibility failures, including weak source-of-funds triggers and controls |
| 2022 | FIAU (Malta) | Online Amusement Solution Limited | €386,567 | One of Malta's largest gaming AML fines, for breaches of the Prevention of Money Laundering Act following a 2019 inspection |
EU AML package
EU AML package (AMLR / AMLD6 / AMLA)The EU's 2024 AML reform creates a single directly-applicable rulebook (AMLR), a coordinating directive (AMLD6) and a new central authority (AMLA) in Frankfurt.
Open topic →FATF
FATF standards & listsThe Financial Action Task Force sets the global AML/CFT standard — the 40 Recommendations — and names high-risk jurisdictions through its grey and black lists.
Open topic →UK MLRs / POCA
UK Money Laundering Regulations, POCA & the risk-based approachThe UK regime combines the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (preventive duties) with the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002 (the criminal offences and SAR reporting), applied to gambling on a risk-based basis overseen by the Gambling Commission.
Open topic →CDD
Customer due diligence (CDD, SDD, EDD)CDD is the process of identifying and verifying who a customer is and risk-rating them, with lighter (SDD) or heavier (EDD) checks applied according to the risk they present.
Open topic →PEP
Politically exposed persons (PEPs)A PEP is someone entrusted with a prominent public function, who (with their relatives and close associates) is treated as higher risk for bribery and corruption and so requires enhanced due diligence and senior-management sign-off.
Open topic →SoF/SoW
Source of funds vs source of wealth (SoF vs SoW)Source of funds is the origin of the specific money a customer is using right now, while source of wealth is the origin of their overall net worth, and confusing the two is a classic compliance error.
Open topic →SAR
Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) & DAMLA Suspicious Activity Report is a disclosure to the national financial intelligence unit about known or suspected money laundering, and a DAML is a request for legal cover to proceed with a transaction that might otherwise be an offence.
Open topic →Transaction monitoring & typologies
Transaction monitoring is the ongoing scrutiny of customer activity, using both automated systems and human review, to spot patterns that may indicate money laundering.
Open topic →UBO
Beneficial ownership / UBOBeneficial ownership means identifying the real natural person(s) who ultimately own or control a customer, company or account, rather than stopping at the legal entity on paper.
Open topic →MLRO
The MLRO & AML governanceThe Money Laundering Reporting Officer is the individual accountable for receiving internal suspicion reports and deciding whether to file SARs, sitting within a broader AML governance framework owned by senior management and the board.
Open topic →