Washington, DC –American Gaming Association (AGA) President and Chief Executive Officer Geoff Freeman released the following statement after the Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN) released new guidance for sports book operations:

“AGA members are committed to robust anti-money laundering measures in every aspect of their operations and invest significant resources to tailor risk-based compliance programs for every corner of the casino, including sports books. The industry welcomes continued guidance from FinCEN to protect against attempts to use casinos for money laundering and illicit financing and to ensure the integrity of the U.S. financial system. 

“The risk of money laundering is far greater in the vast, unregulated, illegal sports betting market than in the highly regulated, legal gaming industry. While casinos routinely look for suspicious bets at sports books and have worked with law enforcement to identify illegal activity – in some cases leading to criminal convictions – no such oversight exists for the illegal sports betting market. The AGA is committed to aggressively addressing illegal gambling, including illegal sports betting, and looks forward to partnering with FinCEN, law enforcement and others in this effort.”

Last month, the AGA released a comprehensive set of Anti-Money Laundering (AML) Best Practices to guide casino efforts to protect the U.S. financial system and our national security from money laundering and other forms of illicit financing. The AGA’s Best Practices for Anti-Money Laundering Compliance are the result of more than a year of work to identify and enhance industry guidelines, which were developed in coordination with FinCEN, and are continually updated.

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