Dutch regulator announces new match-fixing guidelines
The Kansspelautoriteit gaming authority has adapted the Act on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (WWFT) as it has only previously applied to Holland Casino, as the country’s only licence holder for casino games.
WWFT guidelines have been clarified in areas such as identification and verification and crediting and debiting gaming accounts following a consultation and ahead of the Remote Gaming Act (Koa) coming into effect on 1 April 2021.
Kansspelautoriteit said the most important change that has taken place after the consultation is to add the risk of manipulation of sports matches, or match fixing, to the guidelines.
Under a section on unusual payment, the WWFT states that transactions identified as money laundering or worth more than €15,000 must be reported to the Financial Intelligence Unit (FIU), the government agency that investigates cases related to money laundering or terrorist financing. In the same section, the rules say that transactions that arouse a suspicion of match fixing must also be reported as they are often linked to money laundering.
Notification must be made within 14 days of the operator being aware of the unusual nature of the transaction. Rules concerning reporting, confidentiality and anonymity are also covered by the guidelines.
Kansspelautoriteit will also give gambling operators tools to comply with the obligations, which it said can also be used as an aid in drawing up documents for the application for a Koa permit from 1 April.
Initially, KOA was scheduled to enter into law on 1 July 2020, with the market to open six months later at the start of 2021. However, in November 2019, the act’s start date was pushed back six months, meaning the market would open on 1 July 2021.
In September 2020, the launch was pushed back again, with the date the act was set to come into effect moved to 1 March 2021, after preparations to launch had been disrupted by the novel coronavirus (Covid-19) pandemic.
A further delay announced last month means the law comes into effect on 1 April 2021 and the market opens on 1 October.