EU Introduces Unified Financial Control Requirements for Gambling Operators

For the first time, the European Union will define gambling services at the level of an EU-wide regulation and introduce unified financial control requirements for gambling operators. The changes are part of a new EU package aimed at combating money laundering and terrorist financing, according to Oxford Business Law Blog.

Under the regulation, gambling operators will be classified as entities required to comply with anti-money laundering rules. Gambling companies will have to verify customers, monitor transactions and assess related risks.

Similar requirements already applied to participants in the gambling market. However, they were previously included in EU directives, with each member state responsible for implementing the provisions into its own national legislation.

The new regulation will apply directly and establish common rules across all EU countries.

At the same time, the EU still does not have unified gambling legislation. Each country continues to decide independently which forms of gambling are permitted, how licences are issued and under what conditions operators can offer services to local customers.

Therefore, a common gambling regulatory framework in the European Union will not be introduced yet. However, operators will begin to follow the same requirements in the area of anti-money laundering compliance.

Terence Cassar, a gambling law partner at GTG Legal, noted that establishing a common definition of gambling services and unified obligations for companies could become the first step towards broader harmonisation of gambling legislation in Europe.