Alderney gambling regulator contributes to National Risk Assessment

The report found foreign criminal proceeds as the jurisdiction’s main money laundering threat.

Guernsey.- The Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) has played a pivotal role in the completion of the Bailiwick of Guernsey’s second National Risk Assessment (NRA). The report found that foreign criminal proceeds were the main money laundering threat.

However, the assessment also identified the potential risk of money laundering connected to domestic criminality. Local criminal offences are mainly believed to be connected to drug trafficking and fraud. The NRA found that the risk level of Guernsey’s online casino sector was medium, however only four sectors were found to have a higher risk.

AGCC executive director Andrew Gellatly said the regulator’s participation in the NRA demonstrated its commitment to standards. In August, the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU) of the self-governing British Crown dependency reported that the majority of money laundering reports in 2022 were filed by gambling operators. The FIU’s annual report shows that it sent 2,018 reports related to AML concerns in the sector.

Most of the FIU’s Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) are sent to British financial authorities. The number of SARs overall fell to 2,656 in 2022, down by 26 per cent year-on-year. Money laundering concerns accounted for 73 per cent of the reports filed.

Of those reports, 88 per cent (2,018) were related to the gambling sector. That compares to 10 per cent involving trust and company service providers and 8 per cent involving banks. The gambling sector accounted for three-quarters of all SARs, in line with previous years.