Spain to introduce new fraud regulations

Spanish operators will be obliged to obtain documentary proof of a new player’s identity upon registration for the first time, under new rules from Spain’s Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ).

The regulator this week introduced new ID verification and AML rules for operators, aiming to strengthen the protection of players from 30 March 2019.

Players who have registered but have not supplied their verification documentation may make deposits up to a joint limit of €150 and may gamble via the site but will not be able to withdraw any winnings until verification documentation has been received.

Once they have been fully verified and submitted all documentation, they can deposit, participate in the games and make withdrawals. Players who do not provide documents to substantiate their identities will be barred from gambling via accounts on licensed operator sites.

As part of this roll-out, operators will be obligated to report the numbers of players at each verification stage to the DGOJ.

Under previous fraud and counter-terrorism financing requirements, operators had previously only been required to verify player identities when withdrawals were made.

Operators are now also obliged to include new fields in their registration process which must include the IP from which it is connected, the type of device used (. i.e. mobile, desktop, tablet) and the ID of the device to prevent fraud.

Lastly, the DGOJ has modified certification requirements for random number generators, creating a requirement that these systems be “cryptographically strong”, however, this change will not be enforced until nine months after the resolution comes into force.

Last month, the Spanish government put in place a requirement for licensed operators to have internal anti-fraud protocols, publishing these in handbook distributed to all staff. The government also beefed up the DGOJ’s powers, giving it the power to sanction unlicensed operators.