Gaming Sector

As a provider of a 360° AML-compliance, we employ standardised procedures. Our long-standing experience as a compliance service provider in the gaming sector has demonstrated the challenges the sector faces in meeting the requirements of the Money Laundering Act. As a money laundering commissioner, Kerberos has successfully accompanied hundreds of authority audits for betting agencies without any objections.

In order to comply with the requirements of the Money Laundering Act in the sports betting sector, many technical requirements must be met. This includes transaction monitoring which can only be achieved by automated processes. Kerberos already automatically reviews over one million transactions per month and reliably filters out suspicious transactions. With Kerberos, monitoring is followed by case management. We are happy to additionally take care of fulfilling your reporting obligations. Learn more

It is particularly important for franchisors to be able to rely on the integrity of the employees at the individual points of contact. Kerberos provides the sector with appropriate employee reviews as well as trainings and reviews of adherence to individual learning cycles via its own learning platforms. Learn more

The sports betting sector is affected by structural vulnerabilities to money launderers that are not as easy to address as in other industries. In order to operate economically, a constant flow of money is required, where higher deposits are also accepted. So-called "high rollers", who bet at high stakes, should not be deterred from their bets by prolonged check-ups, as this could threaten the economic viability of stationary betting shops and online services.

The constant flow of money and the associated high transaction volumes, deposits and withdrawals of betting amounts in cash and winnings in stationary betting shops as well as the financial dependence of betting operators, are convenient for money launderers.

Money launderers represent a major image problem for the entire sector. Betting agents and operators are often suspected of money laundering. They are accused of not complying with money laundering obligations out of profit interests. Although there are "black sheep" in every industry, the increased number of suspicious activity reports shows that this generalisation cannot prevail. The awareness of money laundering is higher in the sports betting sector than in other industries. This is supported by the fact that in 2019 alone, almost 50% (754/1,512) of the money laundering suspicious activity reports in the non-financial sector originated from the sports betting sector. The overall number increased by 402 percentage points compared to the previous year. A similar increase can otherwise only be observed for financial companies - here, however, only with an increase in the number of cases from 7 in 2018 to 39 in 2019.

Politicians and supervisory authorities often criticise the sports betting sector in public. However, since the individual federal states also operate their own businesses in this sector, there is a frequent demand for coordination, especially in the implementation of measures or new legal regulations. 

Operators of gaming outlets are inspected more frequently than in other sectors. In this context, deterrence serves as a key strategy - in the past, supervisory authorities accompanied by police units have carried out several high-profile inspections.  

Money laundering prevention concepts are indispensable for obtaining a licence. Inspections have also demonstrated that the authorities consider the employees in betting shops to be particularly important. This includes reviews of staff and enquiries about the level of training on money laundering prevention issues, such as the appointment of a money laundering officer.

In order to react appropriately to inspections, Kerberos provides you with corresponding checklists or to-do lists. If you decide to appoint an external money laundering officer, this person will also support you during inspections by the authorities.