The Financial Action Task Force published a report with updated risk indicators for the gaming and gambling sectors. The document covers money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.
The Risks of Gaming and Gambling report was released on Wednesday and replaces FATF's 2009 casino analysis. The task force gathered data from 80 jurisdictions through questionnaires, received written comments from 29 more countries and held consultations with industry.
Land-based and online casinos, as well as sports betting, carry the highest money laundering risks. Lotteries and scratch cards present minimal exposure. Online gaming shows more documented cases of terrorism financing than gambling, but proliferation risks remain low in both sectors.
Cash, e-wallets, mobile payments and virtual assets are the most vulnerable to abuse — especially when operators split deposits below reporting thresholds. FATF President Giles Thomson warned that unregulated segments are becoming entry points for fraud and organised crime. He urged governments to strengthen oversight, pressure illegal and offshore operators and deepen cooperation with business.
Denmark already applying recommendations
Danish regulator Spillemyndigheden confirmed on Friday that many indicators from the report are relevant for the country's licensees. The agency participated in FATF's gaming sector working group.
Last year Spillemyndigheden secured the blocking of 178 unlicensed sites — the largest such action in the regulator's history. FATF singles out masking through multiple domain variations as a red flag. Denmark follows the approach that FATF tracks through its own grey and black lists of jurisdictions with weak AML/CTF controls.
