Dutch Regulator Reprimands Holland Casinos for Inadequate AML Controls

Holland Casinos, the state-owned gambling chain in the Netherlands, has been reprimanded by the Dutch gaming regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), for inadequate anti-money laundering (AML) controls. As the sole legal monopoly on gambling in the country, Holland Casinos operates fourteen casinos nationwide. In the previous year, the company reported a turnover of €818 million and a net profit just under €24 million.

The KSA identified failings in Holland Casinos’ AML practices dating back to 2019. “Investigations by the KSA showed that Holland Casino was, among other things, insufficiently monitoring the gaming behaviour of players and the origin of the money used,” stated the KSA.

In response, the KSA issued directives to Holland Casinos, instructing the company to comply with the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act of the Netherlands. Although the KSA did not specify any penalties for Holland Casinos, it noted that the company “complied with all the given guidelines within the deadlines set at the time.”

Details of the KSA’s inestigation were only recently disclosed following a challenge by Holland Casinos against certain aspects of the regulator’s findings. In March 2024, the Dutch Trade and Industry Appeals Tribunal ruled that the appeal by Holland Casinos was “partly well founded,” resulting in some elements of the KSA’s findings remaining unpublished. This decision was attributed to a “confidentiality obligation” under the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act.

The KSA expressed its hope that the partial publication of its findings would serve as a deterrent to other gambling providers, discouraging them from violating the Money Laundering Act.

By fLEXI tEAM