Norwegian gambling regulator considers penalty against Norsk Rikstoto
The horse racing betting operator was found to have breached AML rules.
Norway.- The Norwegian gambling regulator Lottstift is weighing a possible penalty against Norsk Rikstoto, one of the country’s two monopoly gambling operators. The move comes after the regulator issued a €3.9m fine against state-controlled Norsk Tipping in September after a string of blunders.
In the latest incident, Lottstift found that Norsk Rikstoto had deliberately floated legal requirements intended to ensure the detection and prevention of money laundering. The operator lacked such a system, creating consequential errors that led to more violations of the law, the regulator said.
After an inspection, Lottstift found six violations of Norway’s Money Laundering Act. It has issued notice that it intends to issue a fine of up to NOK2m (€171,365) plus further fines of NOK50,000 (€4,280) per day until the violations are corrected.
Among the violations detected, the operator was found to lack risk-based customer measures. Lottstift found that the operator had deliberately chosen not to perform checks and did not conduct periodic follow-ups of customer relationships.
Meanwhile, only 15 out of 390 customers identified as politically exposed persons (PEPs) were subject to dedicated customer due diligence measures. Moreover, Norsk Rikstoto also lost customer data that it was obliged to store for at least five years. This last violation does not result in a fine, but a violation fee, the regulator said.
“When they do not have good enough systems, the risk of them being exploited for money laundering increases,” said Atle Hamar, Lottstift ‘s director. “Gambling can be used for money laundering and financial crime. Therefore, players such as Norsk Rikstoto must have a system for identifying risks, having an overview of and following up on customer relationships, monitoring transactions and reporting suspicious activity..
He added: “Money laundering is a serious societal problem. We expect a monopoly with over 170,000 players to comply with the law and have better control over how they will detect and prevent money laundering.”
Norsk Rikstoto has three weeks to respond to the notice before the Norwegian Gambling Authority makes a final decision on the penalty.
