The Danish Gambling Authority, Spillemyndigheden, has revealed that it has taken stringent regulatory actions against the online casino operator Mr Green for failing to adhere to anti-money laundering (AML) laws. Detailed scrutiny by the gambling watchdog has exposed several critical areas where Mr Green has purportedly failed to comply with Denmark’s stringent AML regulations, leading to a trio of injunctions and an impending prosecution for separate violations.
The first major concern pinpointed by Spillemyndigheden involves what the authority deems a “flawed” risk assessment in relation to Section 7 of the Money Laundering Act. The legislation mandates a comprehensive assessment of the risks associated with individual payment solutions and delivery channels. However, the absence of such discrete evaluations by Mr Green has resulted in non-compliance with the Act. As clarified by the regulatory body, all companies under the AML legislation’s purview are obliged to identify and evaluate the risks that they may be exploited for money laundering or terrorist financing purposes.
Moving on to the second issue, Spillemyndigheden has brought forward an injunction concerning Mr Green’s business processes, which it finds insufficient for internal controls as per Section 8 of the Act. The gambling operator’s current system lacks any reference to the specific intervals at which these controls should be implemented, failing the regulatory requirements for comprehensive written business processes, including robust internal controls. The regulator emphasized that effective internal control measures must also include a verification process to ensure the controls themselves are being executed appropriately—an obligation Mr Green has apparently neglected.
The third facet where Mr Green seems to have faltered is in the documentation of checks and internal controls, again tying back to Section 8 of the Act which stipulates the necessity for companies to maintain records of the verifications conducted. Spillemyndigheden has detected that Mr Green did not maintain adequate documentation concerning these checks, further contravening the mandated protocol.
Compounding the seriousness of the offenses, Spillemyndigheden has also chosen to pursue legal action against Mr Green over a breach of Section 26 of the Money Laundering Act. This decision is tied to the casino operator’s failure to promptly report suspicions of money laundering or terrorist financing activities to the Money Laundering Secretariat—marked by the regulator as an immediate notification duty.
In terms of remedial actions, Spillemyndigheden has delineated a ‘duty to act’ for Mr Green to rectify the identified lapses. The operator has been ordered to develop and submit a revised risk assessment and revamped business processes for internal control measures by June 10. Additionally, Mr Green is required to fashion business processes elucidating how controls are to be executed and to submit evidence verifying that checks have been completed by October 10.
The Danish Gambling Authority noted that while the indictment itself does not compel Mr Green to undertake any particular corrective measures, as it relates to a non-existing infringement, the injunctions represent critical directives that the operator must comply with to avoid further regulatory penalties.
The collective effects of these injunctions and the prosecution signify a pronounced stance taken by the Danish regulator to uphold the integrity and robustness of its AML framework. Mr Green, which is part of the William Hill group acquired by Caesars Entertainment, now finds itself under intense scrutiny and is expected to respond with comprehensive compliance measures to align with Denmark’s strict regulatory demands. The gaming world, consumer trust, and Mr Green’s business operations within Denmark hinge on the company’s prompt and thorough resolution of these infringement issues.
