Reprimands and orders for Casino Copenhagen for breaches of the Anti-Money Laundering Act
On the 30 June 2022, the Danish Gambling Authority has given Casino Copenhagen five reprimands for breaching the rules of the AML Act with regard to the rules on risk assessment of section 7(1) (reprimand A) business procedures of section 8(1) (reprimand B), policies of section 8(1) (reprimand C), training of section 8(6) (reprimand D) and the whistleblower scheme of section 35 (reprimand E).
In addition, the Danish Gambling Authority has ordered Casino Copenhagen to update their risk assessment (section 7(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act), so that confirmations of payouts of winnings are risk assessed (order A).
Reprimand A is given because Casino Copenhagen generally had made an incomplete risk assessment of the risks associated with their business, including types of games and customers as well as payment methods. Several areas were not subject to a risk assessment. When the risk assessment did not sufficiently describe the factors associated with their customers, products and transactions, the risk assessment did thereby not cover all areas of their business model. In addition, Casino Copenhagen had not described the inherent risk, the mitigating measures and the residual risk for the areas that were in fact dealt with in the risk assessment.
Reprimand B is given because Casino Copenhagen did not have sufficient written business procedures. The business procedures lacked a general description of the performance of the tasks and the business procedures were incomplete in relation to politically exposed persons (PEPs), customer due diligence measures, and the obligations to investigate and report.
Reprimand C is given because it was not possible to identify from Casino Copenhagen’s material that they in fact had policies for the business, which they are obligated to have.
Reprimand D is given because the material that Casino Copenhagen used to train their staff was of a general character and therefore was not sufficient to ensure that their employees have an adequate knowledge of money laundering in relation to Casino Copenhagen as a business.
Reprimand E is given because Casino Copenhagen’s whistleblower scheme did not ensure sufficient anonymity for anyone making a report via the scheme.
Order A is given because Casino Copenhagen’s risk assessment is still insufficient with regard to the risk assessment of confirmation of payout of winnings despite the fact that Casino Copenhagen issues these.
The Danish Gambling Authority notes that the rules on risk assessment, business procedures, policies, training material and the whistleblower scheme are fundamental parts of the Anti-Money Laundering Act. As a rule, breaches of the rules and obligations lead to an order or a reprimand or in serious or repeated cases, they are reported to the police.
Obligation to act
The reprimands do not cause an obligation to act for Casino Copenhagen, since Casino Copenhagen has already sent an updated risk assessment, updated business procedures, policies, training material and an updated whistleblower scheme.
The order causes an obligation to act for Casino Copenhagen, since they must send an updated risk assessment addressing the insufficiency identified by the order.