News
British Columbia’s Plan to Strengthen Casino Compliance Won’t Correct Broad Problems, Say Former Officials
By Colby Adams
printA plan by one of British Columbia's two casino regulators to improve anti-money laundering controls will do little to correct a conflict-of-interest in how the industry is overseen, say critics. In an Aug. 22 response to proposals by the Canadian province's Ministry of Public Safety and Solicitor General, the Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch (GPEB) agreed to require the businesses to distinguish when the checks they give out don't stem from winnings, and to end the practice of considering gamblers who lose money as low-risk clients, among other changes. The ministry didn't specify when the new rules would take effect...
TO READ THE FULL STORY
Related News
The U.S. gaming sector's string of recent compliance penalties have prompted many casinos to rethink how they implement anti-money laundering controls, according to Kim McCabe, founder of Henderson, NV-based consultancy KMC, LLC.
The U.K. Gambling Commission may have called on firms last month to improve their anti-money laundering controls, but the concerns over how best to do that are not new to the nation's gaming sector.
Nevada state regulators will levy a monetary penalty and set conditions on Caesars Entertainment's gaming license as part of an anti-money laundering settlement, according to an individual with knowledge of the plan.
A Northern Mariana Islands casino will forfeit approximately $3 million to the U.S. Justice Department under the terms of a deal reached Thursday that will spare the gambling operation criminal charges.
The U.S. Treasury Department imposed a $75 million fine Wednesday against a casino in the Northern Mariana Islands, less than a year after banning its former VIP services manager over related infractions.
A bankruptcy court cleared the way Wednesday for a $10 million fine against Trump Taj Mahal Casino Resort for poor compliance with recordkeeping and reporting rules, the U.S. Treasury Department said.
Ahead of the issuance of expected federal guidance, a top lobbying group for America's casinos Thursday outlined how the gaming industry should best shield itself from money launderers.
Federal officials are investigating four of Nevada's most well-known casinos for potential violations of the Bank Secrecy Act, according to sources familiar with the matter and a regulatory disclosure published Monday.
An agreement between a global online gaming company and an Atlantic City casino to offer Internet wagering in New Jersey faces an uphill battle to gain the necessary approval from state regulators, say analysts.
Fueled by the need to fill budgetary coffers, the expansion of casinos in the United States will likely foster another sort of growth-more state anti-money laundering laws.
Several of the largest casinos in Nevada are strengthening their Patriot Act controls in the wake of an investigation into Las Vegas Sands Corp. for insufficiently vetting risky clients.
Since the 2011 indictment by the U.S. Justice Department of some of the most prominent online gambling sites in the world, the financial risks posed by Internet betting have changed, believes Christine Duhaime, barrister and solicitor at Vancouver-based Duhaime Law.
Austria and Liechtenstein agreed to exchange tax-related information, Casino group Las Vegas Sands Corp. has ceased executing international money transfers for wealthy gamblers, and more, in this week's roundup.
Federal examiners have found anti-money laundering compliance problems related to customer due diligence and regulatory reporting at two large casinos in Las Vegas, according to individuals familiar with the matter.
Officials in India are looking to strengthen anti-money laundering and terrorist financing controls, U.S. Reps. Elijah Cummings (D-MD) and Henry Waxman (D-CA) suspect Wal-Mart's Mexico branch of money laundering, and more, in the midweek roundup.
Proposed amendments to Canada's primary anti-money laundering law would require banks and other companies to apply new prescriptive compliance controls in place of the risk-based policies currently used, say industry experts.
Disclosures by Canada's financial regulator of suspected money laundering and other crimes have more than tripled in recent years even as the number of suspicious transaction reports filed annually by banks has fallen.
Since gaining penalty powers nearly three years ago, Canada's financial intelligence unit is shifting its focus from training financial institutions about compliance duties to penalizing those that haven't complied quickly enough.
Poor compliance efforts by gambling operations are translating into regulatory risks for the financial institutions that bank them, according to anti-money laundering consultants.
A lack of clear regulatory oversight of how money services businesses and casinos comply with economic sanctions has left a gap in U.S. financial crime controls, say former IRS agents.