Money-laundering law now captures gambling services
Two statutory instruments (SIs) to tackle money laundering have been signed into law.
The SIs commence the provisions of the and bring gambling service providers within the scope of anti-money laundering legislation.
This completes Ireland鈥檚 transposition of the EU鈥檚 Fourth AML Directive
Announcing the commencement of the new act, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said: 鈥淭his legislation is really important. Money laundering is a crime that helps serious criminals and terrorists to function, destroying lives in the process
鈥淐riminals seek to exploit the EU鈥檚 open borders and this EU-wide measure is really important for that reason. I and my Government colleagues are committed to systematically tackling corruption and organised crime.鈥
The act aims to strengthen laws combatting money laundering and terrorist financing by:
- Obliging 鈥榙esignated persons鈥 鈥 banks and other financial institutions 鈥 to carry out due-diligence tests verifying customers鈥 identity and assess risk
- Extending the designation of a 鈥榩olitically exposed person鈥, and
- Lowering the threshold for 鈥榟igh-value goods鈥 from 鈧15,000 to 鈧10,000.
The prescribe gambling services providers as designated persons under the legislation.
They are now obliged to carry out customer due diligence, report suspicious transactions, and comply with the other obligations under the act.
Lotteries
All gambling service providers are captured by the new regulations other than lotteries, bingo, gaming and amusement machines and land-based poker, which were found to be low-risk following an assessment.
The customer due-diligence requirements only apply where the amount of money is more than 鈧2,000.