ANJ announces first review of exisiting operator action plans
French National Gaming Authority files new report concluding progress has been made in the fight against fraud and money laundering, but operators still have room for improvement
The French Autorité National des Jeux (ANJ), known in English as the French National Gaming Authority, yesterday published findings from its first review of operators’ 2021 gambling action plans.
Following a legislative amendment in May 2010, all organisations wishing to operate in the French online gambling sector must submit detailed information to the ANJ each year outlining how they will attempt to combat important problem areas such as fraud, money-laundering and terrorist financing.
With this provision allowing for a constant dialogue between operator and regulator that can better inform recommendations for improvement, the ANJ’s assessment is primarily based on understanding the risks an operator is exposed to and evaluating the resources allocated to tackling them.
After conducting an individualised follow-up with each operator that resulted in bilateral compliance support meetings, the ANJ has announced that significant improvement has been made in both the identification and assessment of risks and the willingness of operators to commit to addressing these issues.
The ANJ was also pleased with the progress operators had made in developing their alert engineering systems as well as their overall compliance with procedures when preparing reports of suspicious activity. However, despite the positive findings, the ANJ is keen for operators to make further improvements in 2022.
This year, the regulator wants to see operators distinguish their risk analysis documentation and structure by betting sector and degree of severity, while also implementing procedures to ensure effective and permanent control of staff’s compliance with their obligations. It also wants to ensure all asset freezing mechanisms are compliant and that point-of-sale controls on retailers are tightened.
As such, the ANJ has concluded that while operators have made a number of important steps forward, there’s still a long way for them to go in the continued fight against fraud and money laundering.
How they respond to the latest requirements set out for them by the regulator will be the subject of next year’s report.