The American Gaming Association (AGA) last week released a comprehensive set of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Best Practices to guide the efforts of casinos to protect the U.S. financial system and our national security from money laundering and other forms of illicit finance. The AGA’s Best Practices for Anti-Money Laundering Compliance are the result of more than a year of work to identify and enhance industry guidelines, which were developed in coordination with the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN).
“Today marks a milestone for the gaming industry, which has come together to develop the first-of-its-kind, forward-looking set of Best Practices that reflect our industry’s commitment to a strong culture of compliance,” said Geoff Freeman, president and chief executive officer of the AGA. “We look forward to further bolstering our partnership with FinCEN to prevent money laundering and protect the integrity of the U.S. financial system.”
At Global Gaming Expo in 2013, Jennifer Shasky Calvery, the director of FinCEN, warned the industry that it needed to step up its anti-money laundering campaign, and suggested that casinos would need to ask customers the source of the funds.
Casino companies have developed risk-based programs that promote compliance with the legal requirements of the federal Bank Secrecy Act (BSA) and associated AML regulations to discourage illicit behavior and safeguard the integrity of the casino industry. Risk-based compliance efforts are essential to the casino industry’s effective implementation of AML controls.
The Best Practices illustrate the industry’s commitment to a strong culture of compliance. They distill the procedures that a wide range of casinos have adopted across critical issues including customer due diligence, transaction monitoring and employee training. Notably, the document also sets forth a series of “red flags” that are specifically tailored to the gaming sector. Individual casinos have implemented a range of measures and guidelines that aim to prevent, detect and report efforts to present illicit funds at casinos.
While the vast majority of patrons visit casinos for entertainment, those engaged in illegal activity may attempt to use the casino’s financial services to conceal or transfer illicit wealth. Last week’s release of the Best Practices is an important step toward achieving the goals the industry shares with regulators and law enforcement: protecting the integrity of gaming and keeping illicit funds out of our nation’s casinos.
To read the AGA’s Best Practices for Anti-Money Laundering Compliance, go to the website at americangaming.org.
