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The case involving Videoslots Limited underscores how rapidly shifting deposit activity and opaque digital voucher payments can expose serious laundering risks when automated systems drive the majority of oversight. The operator was hit with a substantial financial penalty after investigators identified repeated failures across customer monitoring, source-of-funds evaluation and behavioural assessment. These shortcomings reveal how criminal networks can take advantage of weak

The United States and China have each rolled out major enforcement offensives aimed at sprawling criminal networks that have turned parts of Myanmar, Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand into entrenched hotspots for online scams and illicit gambling. These areas—now deeply embedded in operations powered by forced labour, digital fraud, and crypto-enabled money flows—have become focal points for both countries as they escalate efforts against transnational crime. In one of its most sw

Sri Lanka has confirmed that its newly established Gambling Regulatory Authority (GRA) will commence full operations on 1 December, taking charge of oversight across the country’s gaming landscape.   The GRA has been designed with what officials describe as a “broad and overarching scope,” assuming responsibility for ship-based, land-based, and online gambling activities. Lotteries and social gaming remain outside its remit. The authority will regulate licensing procedures, i

Brazil’s latest attempt to sharply raise gambling taxes has stalled once more, as lawmakers postponed the vote on a proposal to double the current rate — and have yet to set a new date for its return.   The delay follows the collapse of an earlier provisional measure that sought to lift the gambling tax rate from 12% to 18%. In October, legislators introduced a new plan to raise the levy on gross gaming revenue to 24%, but despite multiple attempts, it has not advanced.   An

In September 2024, Wynn Las Vegas agreed to surrender $130 million to the US Department of Justice after admitting it had “conspired with unlicensed money transmitting businesses that moved millions of dollars in illicit funds through the casino.”   At the time, the public was given only a broad outline of the violations, with little detail about the mechanics of the underground transfers, the role of casino staff, or how drug cartel proceeds ultimately ended up funding high-

A disciplinary case stemming from the actions of illegal bookmaker Mathew Bowyer inside Caesars Palace has escalated into one of the Strip’s most consequential financial-crime matters in recent memory. A proposed settlement between Caesars Entertainment, Inc. and Nevada regulators details a mixture of penalties, operational restrictions, and corrective measures aimed squarely at the casino’s failures to detect and prevent money-laundering activity connected to high-risk betti

Macau’s Chief Executive Sam Hou Fai has cautioned that the city’s gross gaming revenue (GGR) is continuing to lag behind expectations and is unlikely to hit government projections by year-end, underscoring the sector’s fragility in the face of shifting international forces. Speaking at a press conference after presenting his 2026 Policy Address on Tuesday, Hou Fai admitted, “Until now, GGR has not matched our expectations, and we don’t believe it will do so by November or Dec

The South African Bookmakers’ Association (SABA) has issued a detailed clarification in response to the Supreme Court of Appeal’s recent ruling in the matter of Portapa (Pty) Limited, trading as Supabets, versus the Casino Association of South Africa.   The judgment, which also involved the Gauteng Gambling Board, was handed down on 21 October 2025 and has since generated extensive media coverage and public debate. SABA also noted its awareness of the National Gambling Board’

Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) has revised its Multi-year Investment Plan for 2025–2027, allocating €28 million specifically toward the digital transformation and regulatory enhancement of the national gaming framework.   This funding forms a notable component of the broader €500 million modernisation initiative and highlights the strategic importance of gaming within Italy’s wider technological and organisational reform agenda. The investment focuses on reinforc

Casinos de France, the leading organisation representing the nation’s brick-and-mortar casinos, has issued a firm rejection of any government initiative aimed at authorising online casino gaming.   Their stance comes as renewed pressure builds to revamp France’s digital gambling framework amid rising concerns over illicit online operators. At present, France only permits online sports betting, horse-race wagering and poker, leaving casino-style games strictly off-limits.   Ac

On November 13, the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) issued a formal finding and a notice of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) declaring that transactions connected to ten specific gambling operations in Mexico constitute a class of activity posing a primary money laundering threat. The agency laid out a proposal to block these establishments from utilizing the U.S. financial system by instituting a special measure that would bar covere

A newly proposed overhaul of Macau’s advertising legislation could open the door to limited exceptions under the city’s long-standing prohibition on gaming-related advertising.   The Executive Council of Macau has completed its review of a draft bill titled Advertising Law, which seeks to replace the territory’s more than 35-year-old advertising regulations with updated provisions covering key sectors, including real estate, healthcare, and gambling.   According to the govern

Philippine gaming operators recorded PHP94.51 billion in gross gaming revenue (GGR) for the third quarter of 2025, a marginal decline from the PHP94.61 billion posted in the same period last year, according to figures released by the Philippine News Agency. The e-games sector saw a 17% increase, generating PHP41.95 billion compared with PHP35.71 billion in the third quarter of 2024. However, much of that growth was driven by strong activity in July, before the mandatory delin

A comprehensive new study from Norway has revealed that young people exhibiting symptoms of gaming problems are significantly more likely to engage in gambling, with the trend being particularly pronounced among girls.   The findings come amid a doubling of gaming disorder rates among Norwegian youth over the past 15 years.   The nationwide survey was conducted by the University of Bergen’s Norwegian Competence Center for Gaming and Gambling Research (SPILLFORSK) and commissi

Strengthening player safety through an effective fight against the illegal gambling market and building public trust were emphasized as key priorities by the President of the National Betting Authority (NBA), Panagiotis Trisokkas, who represented the Authority at the SiGMA Central Europe Summit held in Rome from November 4 to 6. The SiGMA Central Europe Summit, one of the leading international gatherings in the gaming sector, brought together thousands of professionals, regul

Former Speaker of the House Arthur Lira has called on Brazil’s Federal Government to focus on combating illegal betting operations before pursuing higher taxes on licensed companies.   Speaking to journalists during an event in São Paulo, Lira said that betting is “inevitable” in Brazil and argued that prohibition is not an effective approach to managing the industry.   The congressman emphasized that authorities should prioritize enforcement against unlicensed betting platfo

The Netherlands’ gambling regulation entered a new phase in July 2025 as the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) significantly expanded its enforcement scope, extending its oversight beyond licensed operators to include affiliates, media organisations, and marketing agencies. This development represents a decisive shift in the regulator’s strategy, designed to dismantle the broader ecosystem that sustains illegal and non-compliant gambling activity across the Dutch market. For the first

The Coalition of Good Governance (CCG), a civil and public interest consortium in Nigeria, has strongly condemned the National Assembly’s renewed attempt to push the Nigeria Central Gaming Bill, branding it a “voyage of legislative rascality, recklessness and lawlessness” during a recent media briefing. The controversy traces back to July, when the Federation of State Gaming Regulators of Nigeria (FSGRN) voiced strong opposition to the bill, which seeks to grant the federal g

In a quiet but decisive policy update on October 28, 2025, Google formally reclassified sweepstakes casinos as gambling platforms, ending years of uncertainty over how dual-currency operators such as WOW Vegas, Pulsz, and McLuck are categorized within the company’s advertising system.   The amendment appeared in Google’s Gambling and Games Policy, with a brief but pivotal clarification: “Sweepstakes casinos are not social casino games.”   That single line has sweeping implica

Norsk Rikstoto has come under intense regulatory scrutiny after Norway’s Gambling Commission and the national financial supervisory authority identified severe breaches of anti-money laundering (AML) requirements across the operator’s activities.   The findings point to a systematic breakdown of compliance, where key controls were missing, legal duties ignored, and decisions left undocumented—seriously impairing the company’s capacity to detect and report suspicious behavior.