The American Gaming Association Thursday released Best Practices for Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Compliance (PDF). The third edition of the guide, reviewed and revised by compliance professionals, builds on the gaming industry’s AML leadership and reflects new laws, technologies, and indicators of criminal activity.
“As the methods and sophistication of financial crimes evolve, the gaming industry continues to spearhead efforts to combat money laundering,” said AGA Vice President, Government Relations Alex Costello in a statement “An invaluable resource for our industry, this guide demonstrates gaming’s commitment to protect the U.S. financial system from money laundering and other forms of illicit finance.”
Best Practices was last updated in 2019. Since then, there have been numerous changes in practices and legislation affecting AML compliance, including:
- Significant changes by Congress to the Bank Secrecy Act through the Anti-Money Laundering Act of 2020.
- The Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) granted the gaming industry federal exceptive relief for certain types of ID verification.
- Sports betting and igaming were legalized in 16 additional states.
- Nearly a dozen gaming jurisdictions approved the use of digital payments and forms of cryptocurrency.
- New types of cybercrimes and fraudulent activity have surfaced.
The third edition of Best Practices provides updated guidance to address these changes, including expanded red flag indicators, current compliance obligations, revised definitions, and other information for gaming companies to maintain strong AML regimens.
In 2014, the gaming industry became the first group to collectively establish a comprehensive set of best practices for AML compliance. In 2021, the industry filed nearly 55,000 suspicious activity reports to aid law enforcement in fighting money laundering activity.
The AGA also represents gaming on the Bank Secrecy Act Advisory Group (BSAAG), a group organized by FinCEN to collaborate with stakeholders in the financial sector.
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