Commitment to Heavily Regulated U.S. Online Gambling Market Continues

As online gambling access continues to spread across the U.S., so too do the efforts of federal and state regulators in terms of protecting Americans. It is necessary to police the online gambling industry to protect the industry from rogue actors who would use this access for nefarious activities.

Two areas of concern relate to the ongoing proliferation of money laundering and human trafficking that seems to have become commonplace across the globe. It turns out that the criminals are looking for ways to use online gambling operators to help them hide their criminal activities.

With an eye on protecting American online gamblers from such efforts, the American Gaming Association (AGA) has developed an updated Best Practices for Anti-Money Laundering Compliance Guide, which U.S. online gambling operators are expected to follow under the threat of penalty. They need to follow these guidelines to ensure the industry maintains credibility among U.S.-based clientele.

Updated Guidelines That Target Money Laundering and Human Trafficking

While the AGA's original anti-money laundering guidelines focused mostly on preventing such activities, the need for additional guidelines grew due to the proliferation of human trafficking in the U.S. by the Drug cartels. The following guidelines should help do exactly that:

• Focus on Customer (KYC) protocols and complete Suspicious Activity Report (SAR) filings


• Revew new guidence for risk assessment


• Establish protective protocols related to online activity & digital wallets


• More insurance coverage to protect against fraud


• Train employees to recognize malicious activities


• Learn more about the intricacies of spotting human trafficking activities
  

In addition to these guidelines, here are some of the anti-money laundering regulations that U.S. online gambling providers are required to follow:

• Maintain comprehensive records on gambling activities by customer


• Report deposits and withdrawals that exceed $10K


• Report any account activities that might look suspicious


• Adhere to strict KYC requirements for all customers
  

As a warning, the guide stresses that traffickers’ operations will typically target and overlap with legitimate industries. The guide specifically states:

“This is especially true for the travel and tourism industry – including casino gaming – when properties are unwittingly used to facilitate criminal activity.”

If there is an issue related to these guidelines, it would be that the enforcement of these rules is lagging at best. Most online casinos are doing a respectable job when it comes to reporting suspicious activities. According to Thomas Rueters, the efforts of the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) are failing to keep the industry clean.

“Despite a massive surge in SAR filings, enforcement actions were virtually nonexistent, revealing a significant enforcement gap that undermines deterrence.”

As the industry continues to grow, operators are expected to tow the line and follow all regulations to a tee. Failure to do so could give the overall industry a black-eye, something that could cause financial damage to the entire online gambling industry. Nobody wants to see that as operators remain profitable, state governments are collecting much-needed tax revenue, and U.S. online gamblers are enjoying having access to such entertainment activities.