The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has welcomed anti-money laundering proposals made by the European Union (EU).  

The EU has published proposals for two anti-money laundering regulations and a revision on the current EU anti-money laundering directive.  

The proposals build on concerns in recent years that some EU members have not sufficiently implemented or enforced the EU’s current anti-money laundering rulebook.  

Mainly, the proposed regulations are directed towards financial services. 

EGBA says it welcomes the announcement and “reaffirms its commitment to work with all relevant regulatory bodies,” such as the EU, to combat money laundering in Europe.  

Some of the proposed changes are expected to affect Europe’s online gambling sector, including beneficial ownership, customer due diligence and establishing a new anti-money laundering authority.  

The proposals will now go through the EU legislative process and will be sent to the European Parliament and Council to be reviewed and approved.  

The process could take 18 months, but once approved the changes will come into force immediately and every EU member will have to follow them.  

Ekaterina Hartmann, EGBA Director, said: “We welcome the efforts of the European Commission to continuously improve the EU framework for combatting money laundering. EGBA members already apply the highest regulatory standards in AML compliance and are fully committed to tackling money laundering in the online gambling sector.  

“To support this, we are working closely with our members to develop EU-wide, sector-specific guidelines to help Europe’s online gambling companies comply with the increasingly complex AML rules in the EU.”