Danish gambling regulator warns of money laundering risks when using affiliates

Spillemyndigheden has advised operators to consider the role of affiliates when assessing their risk of money laundering.

Denmark.- The Danish gambling regulator Spillemyndigheden has released a statement warning “money laundering can occur through affiliates who market for gambling operators”. According to the regulator, one sign of potential money laundering is a high number of affiliate referrals that only use a gambling operator’s website once.

“Gambling operators that use affiliates should therefore consider whether this gives rise to updating their risk assessment,” the regulator said in the statement. 

Spillemyndigheden said: “In affiliate agreements with an individual or a company, there is an inherent risk that a gambling operator will be misused for money laundering. Particularly organised criminal networks can exploit an affiliate agreement.

“Networks of organised criminals can refer a large number of people within their criminal network as customers using the link to a gambling operator. A larger amount of illegal funds can be deposited into customers’ gambling accounts, which will not initially look suspicious, as the amount is distributed among several people in the criminal’s network. 

“The deposited funds can subsequently be paid out to customers, possibly after play-through from their gambling accounts.”

The regulator is advising all licensees to assess whether their affiliate agreements give rise to an updated AML risk assessment, and to notify any suspected money laundering to the Financial Intelligence Unit.