Page 11 - 20200513 Newsletter - 07042020 Final

Volume 3, Edition 1 Chatterbox 07/04/2020

Part Three: Enforcement Action In Focus: FATF

...continued
2019 Round Up
• Increase use of the unregulated
financial sector, creating
additional opportunities for
criminals to launder illicit funds;

• Misuse and misappropriation
of domestic and international
financial aid and emergency
funding;
As we move further into 2020, it is The UK Gambling Commission is
a good opportunity to reflect on the continuing to report surprising • Exploit COVID-19 and the
misdeeds of last year. and disappointing results from its associated economic downturn
supervision.
More than $8 billion in fines were to move into new cash-intensive
and high-liquidity lines of
handed out in 2019 for AML On 2nd April 2020 the Commission business in developing countries
misdemeanors, most from the USA reported that Caesars Entertainment
and UK. Compared to 2018, this was UK Limited had been fined the sum of https://www.fatf-gafi.org/
a bumper year for regulators who £13m following a catalogue of social publications/fatfgeneral/
handed out a mere $4 billion worth of responsibility, money laundering and documents/covid-19-ml-tf.html
penalties during that period. customer interaction failures including
those involving ‘VIPs’.
Interestingly in this year on year Money laundering failings included:
comparison, there is somewhat of a Since January the Commission has
correlation between the number of • The operator not carrying out suspended the operating licences
fines and the value of fines with 29 adequate source of funds checks on of Stakers Limited, Addison Global
fines handed out in 2018 compared a customer who was allowed to drop Limited, and International Multi-
to 58 in 2019. Another item of note around £3.5 million and lose £1.6 Media Entertainments Limited and so
is that whilst the UK and the US are million over a period of three months. far, this year regulatory action has led
handed out the most fines (12 and • The operator not obtaining adequate to the industry paying £27 million in
25 respectively), the value of these evidence of source of funds for a penalty packages. This includes £11.6
pales into insignificance against a politically exposed person (PEP) who million for Betway and £3 million for
whopping $5 billion fine levied by the lost £795,000 during a 13-month Mr. Green.
French courts at one single entity – period
UBS. UBS is poised to fight the ruling • The operator not carrying out Keep it up!
but nonetheless it highlights the enhanced customer due diligence
increasing appetite of all international (ECDD) checks on a consumer who http://www.gamblingcommission.
regulators and enforcement bodies to lost £240,000 over a 13-month period gov.uk/news-action-and-statistics/
hold firms to account for alleged poor • The operator not carrying out News/systemic-failings-at-caesars-
conduct. adequate source of funds checks on a entertainment-leads-to-the-
Let’s see if 2020 shapes up the same customer who identified as a waitress departure-of-three-senior-managers-
way. and was allowed to buy-in £87,000 and-sanctions-of-13m
and lose £15,000 during a 12-month
https://thefintechtimes.com/aml- period.
a-shocking-8-14-billion-of-fines-
handed-out-in-2019/

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