Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, whether he plans to categorise bookmakers as high risk in the draft regulations transposing the fourth Money Laundering Directive into UK law.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The Fourth Money Laundering Directive extends its scope to cover all gambling providers. However, the Government can exempt providers of certain gambling services from the requirements laid down in the Directive on the basis of proven low risk.
We will be publishing a consultation towards the end of the year asking stakeholders to submit evidence on which sectors of the gambling sector can be proven to be low risk as part of the transposition process and will legislate accordingly.
Asked by: Carolyn Harris (Labour - Swansea East)
Question to the HM Treasury:
To ask Mr Chancellor of the Exchequer, if he will make representations to the EU Commission on including bookmakers within the scope of the fourth money laundering directive.
Answered by Harriett Baldwin
The Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive (“the Directive”) was formally adopted in June 2015, and will be transposed into national law by June 2017. The Directive extends the scope of the UK’s Money Laundering Regulations 2007 to cover all gambling providers.
The Government can exempt providers of certain gambling services from the requirements laid down in the Directive on the basis of proven low risk posed by the nature and scale of operations. Any exemption will need to take account of a risk assessment that includes factors such as the degree of vulnerability of the transaction and the payment methods.
We will be consulting on which sectors of the gambling sector can be proven to be low risk as part of the transposition process and we will be legislating accordingly. The Government plans to publish a consultation on the changes by the end of this year, and this will run for a full 12 weeks.
Asked by: Luciana Berger (Liberal Democrat - Liverpool, Wavertree)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, what estimate his Department has made of the amount of money is laundered through fixed odds betting terminals in each of the last three years.
Answered by Tracey Crouch
[Three licensing objectives in the Gambling Act 2005 underpin the regulation of Gambling in Great Britain. The first licensing objective is "preventing gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime". Consequently] all operators licensed by the Gambling Commission are required - as a condition of their operating licence - to put in place effective systems to identify and prevent criminal spend.
The Gambling Commission has dealt with a number of cases of potential money laundering, mainly involving criminal "lifestyle" spend, connected to Category B2 ('FOBT') gaming machines. It has also dealt with some cases involving other forms of gambling including remote betting, non-remote casino and “ticket in ticket out” (TITO) facilities in connection with gaming machines.
The Gambling Commission and the Government are continuing to work across the gambling industry to further strengthen processes and procedures to identify and prevent money laundering.
Asked by: Lord Mancroft (Conservative - Excepted Hereditary)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask Her Majesty’s Government when further guidance will be provided to online poker gambling companies and their software providers in respect of the latest licence conditions and codes of practice guidance relating to the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014, the sharing of information to prevent cheating, money laundering, crime and problem gambling, and the investigation of customer complaints.
Answered by Lord Newby
The Gambling Commission has no immediate plans to add to the guidance already given, but will add answers to any specific questions or points that may emerge in the Commission’s Frequently Asked Questions blog.