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  3. The prevention of money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism

Guidance

The prevention of money laundering and combating the financing of terrorism

Gambling Commission guidance for remote and non-remote casinos: Fifth edition (Revision 3).

Published
13 November 2020

Last updated
30 May 2023 - Changes

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  1. Contents
  2. Part 4 - Senior management responsibility
  3. 4 - Internal controls

4 - Internal controls

Where appropriate, with regard to the size and nature of the business, a casino operator must appoint a member of its board of directors (or equivalent management body if there is no board) or of its senior management as the officer responsible for the operator's compliance with the Regulations.50

In determining what is appropriate or proportionate with regard to the size and nature of their business, casino operators must take into account their risk assessment and should take into account any guidance issued by the Commission or appropriate body, and approved by HM Treasury.51 An appropriate body is a body which regulates or is representative of any trade, profession, business or employment carried on by a casino operator52 (and includes trades bodies such as the Betting and Gaming Council).

Where the casino operator appoints a board member as the officer responsible for the operator's compliance with the Regulations, it is important that this member and the director or senior manager who is allocated the overall responsibility for the establishment and maintenance of the operator's AML and CTF systems (where they are not the same person) are clear on their responsibilities.

The casino operator must, within 14 days of the appointment, inform the Commission of the identity of the individual appointed as the officer responsible for the operator's compliance with the Regulations, and any subsequent appointment to that position.53 In order to meet this requirement, operators should comply with licence condition 15.2.3(2) and (3).

The internal controls must, where appropriate with regard to the size and nature of the casino operator's business, also provide for:

Carrying out screening of relevant employees appointed by the operator, both before the appointment is made and during the course of the appointment, where:

  • screening means an assessment of the skills, knowledge and expertise of the individual to carry out their functions effectively, and the conduct and integrity of the individual

A relevant employee is an employee whose work is:

  • relevant to the operator's compliance with any requirement in the Regulations
  • otherwise capable of contributing to the identification or mitigation of the risks of money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing to which the operator is subject, or the prevention or detection of money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing in relation to the operator's business.

The establishment of an independent audit function with the responsibility to:

  • examine and evaluate the adequacy and effectiveness of the policies, procedures and controls adopted by the operator to comply with the Regulations
  • make recommendations in relation to those policies, procedures and controls
  • monitor the operator's compliance with those recommendations.54

In determining what is appropriate or proportionate with regard to the size and nature of their business, casino operators must take into account their risk assessment and should take into account any guidance issued by the Commission or appropriate body, and approved by HM Treasury.55 An appropriate body is a body which regulates or is representative of any trade, profession, business or employment carried on by a casino operator56 (and includes trades bodies such as the Betting and Gaming Council).

Casino operators must establish and maintain systems that enable them to respond fully and rapidly to enquiries from financial investigators accredited under section 3 (opens in a new tab), of POCA, persons acting on behalf of the Scottish Ministers in their capacity as an enforcement authority under POCA, or constables or equivalent officers of any law enforcement authority, in relation to:

  • whether it maintains, or has maintained during the previous five years, a business relationship with any person
  • the nature of the relationship.57

References

50Regulation 21(1)(a).
51Regulation 21(10).
52Regulation 3(1).
53Regulation 21(4).
54Regulation 21.
55Regulation 21(10).
56Regulation 3(1).
57Regulation 21.

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