Australia
AUSTRAC CEO Focuses on Gambling Industry Compliance
AUSTRAC, the anti-money laundering watchdog in Australia, will continue to give a prime focus on the gambling industry and won’t be cautious in taking action against companies that fail comply with their obligations, CEO Brendan Thomas said.
During a Keynote Address on the final day of the Regulating the Game conference in Sydney on Thursday, Thomas said it still has a lot of “activities” around the gambling industry in the works, even as it looks to conclude long-running actions against casino operator Star Entertainment Group and online operator Entain for various compliance failures.
More importantly, he promised that although AUSTRAC will work with industry to achieve appropriate outcomes, its patience has limits.
“I’ve been the CEO of AUSTRAC for just over a year and I’m so proud of the work that we’ve done in that time to reduce the harms to our community. But while I’ve been working with the industry and our reporting entities to reduce that harm, AUSTRAC is not in the business of continuing to educate without action. It is important that businesses understand their legal obligations because I’m prepared to take strong and swift action where it is warranted,” he said.
“If you expect AUSTRAC to educate, educate, educate and then take action years later, you’re mistaken. If you think your business is too small to take responsibility for regulatory compliance, you’re also mistaken. Your services in the gambling industry have been subject to a regulatory regime for many years now and it is your responsibility to comply,” he added.
Noting that licensed operators in Australia face an ever-evolving risk landscape due to “the digitization of currency, financial systems that are more dispersed and complex, the need for more sophisticated customer verification processes, and greater competition in the rapidly expanding online gaming sector,” Thomas called on operators large and small to run thorough risk assessments in order to properly identify where the true risks of infiltration sit for each.
This, he explained, is in line with the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Amendment Bill 2024 that was passed in federal parliament last year.
The bill, which updated the previous act from 2006, adds a raft of new industries to AUSTRAC’s purview – namely real estate professionals, lawyers, accountants, trust and company service providers, and dealers in precious stones and metals – but also amends laws around how entities should comply with their obligations.
“We’re trying to shift the way that we do regulation in our regulated industries away from pure compliance to a proper discussion about risk so that we can talk to you about what that risk actually is and then we can focus practically on what are the controls that are directly aimed at those risks rather than just ticking a bunch of compliance boxes. We aim to take the bureaucracy out of what we do and how we do it,” he said.
Despite promising to be tougher on those who fail to properly comply, Thomas said the agency also wants to improve its lines of communications with the industries it regulates.
“AUSTRAC is making some significant changes ourselves – establishing functions that are purely about establishing proper partnerships with our regulated industries,” he said.
“In the past we haven’t done that and we are committed to working in partnership with those industries that want to comply with the law. We will also be much more transparent and forward on what our legal position is on a whole range of different moves and we will be more up front about where we are seeing risks that affect our regulated industries.
“[But] there is no question on where [illegal] funds come from and how those funds are impacting Australians. There is the crime that leads to profits in the first place and then the reinvestment of those profits into more crime. At the worst end of the scale, we are talking about illicit drugs running, scams, child sexual exploitation and significant amount of human trafficking, so if you are in the gambling industry you have a pretty big obligation to help us combat these problems,” he added.
The post AUSTRAC CEO Focuses on Gambling Industry Compliance appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Konami Gaming has announced the promotion of Tom Jingoli to President & Chief Operating Officer, as well as Managing Director of its overseas subsidiary Konami Australia Pty Ltd.
For more than 20 years, Tom Jingoli has served Konami with strategic leadership across a variety of areas, including compliance, sales, marketing, customer service and more. Concurrent to this announcement, Konami marked the appointment of Steve Sutherland as Corporate Officer for parent company KONAMI GROUP CORPORATION, where he now serves in addition to carrying on his role as Chief Executive Officer of Konami Gaming Inc.
“Considering Tom Jingoli’s exceptional industry tenure, commitment, vision, and impact, it is especially rewarding to announce this leadership change within the organization. As President of Konami Gaming and Managing Director of Konami Australia, Jingoli will continue the organizations’ business growth, market expansion, and positive momentum on a global scale,” said Steve Sutherland, chief executive officer at Konami Gaming.
As President & COO of Konami Gaming, Tom Jingoli is responsible for successful daily operations, execution and partnership throughout the business, to ensure company results. All internal departments and divisions are under his direct report, spanning seven locations across five continents. This supervision extends to his role as Managing Director of Konami Australia. In his role as Chief Executive Officer of Konami Gaming, Steve Sutherland continues to oversee all aspects of the global organisation and its divisions to achieve long-range goals. Steve Sutherland and Tom Jingoli are both long-time members on Konami Gaming’s Board of Directors.
The post Konami Promotes Tom Jingoli to President and COO appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Victorian venues are putting young people at risk when they turn a blind eye to, or otherwise fail to prevent, minors entering poker machine areas, according to Victorian Gambling and Casino Control Commission (VGCCC) CEO Suzy Neilan.
Australian Leisure and Hospitality Group (ALH) was fined $38,000 without conviction in the Magistrates’ Court of Victoria for offences involving 3 minors at 3 venues on 4 dates in 2024.
ALH pleaded guilty to 6 charges, having self-reported the breaches to the VGCCC, which Ms Neilan said was important to recognise as a positive step towards improving industry practices.
“Being accountable for wrongdoing demonstrates integrity, which has been a focus of the VGCCC’s ongoing work with gambling operators,” she said.
“But it’s not enough to own up after the fact. Venues must be proactive about ensuring that minors do not access poker machine areas by ensuring they have in place appropriate systems, processes and staff.
“Operators should undertake a risk assessment and put in place controls to prevent minors from entering gambling areas. Some examples of controls could include displaying clear signage that the poker machine room is for adults only and checking the identification of anyone who appears under 25 years of age.”
Ms Neilan said it was not acceptable that any Victorian clubs and hotels – in this case, the Cramers and Excelsior hotels – were repeat offenders.
A 17-year-old was able to enter the poker machine area of Cramers Hotel in Preston multiple times without having to show ID, despite several interactions with staff and visits to the poker machine area on 24 January 2024. Staff intervened on 25 January 2024 only after the underage teen placed his belongings next to a poker machine.
Separately, a child in the company of 2 adults entered the poker machine area of the Excelsior Hotel in Thomastown on 24 April 2024. The child, who was seated with one of the adults, pressed buttons on the poker machine before they were both escorted from the area.
And on 27 September 2024, a 14-year-old boy entered the poker machine room of the Mountain View Hotel in Glen Waverley and gambled on a poker machine before staff intervened.
Ms Neilan said the VGCCC would continue to be vigilant about prosecuting venues for allowing minors to access the gambling areas of their premises, but that “prevention is better than cure”.
“I encourage all hotels and clubs to review their operations, including staff training, and consider making any adjustments required to ensure compliance with the law.”
In addition to the fine, the Magistrate ordered ALH to pay VGCCC’s legal costs of $40,000. The Magistrate also noted that but for the guilty plea, he would have fined ALH $90,000 and recorded a criminal conviction.
Summary of charges:
Incident 1 – Cramers Hotel:
Charge 1: Offences in respect of a minor entering a gaming machine area
Charge 2: Offences in respect of allowing a minor to gamble
Incident 2 – Excelsior Hotel:
Charge 3: Offences in respect of a minor entering a gaming machine area
Charge 4: Offences in respect of allowing a minor to gamble
Incident 3 – Mountain View Hotel:
Charge 5: Offences in respect of a minor entering a gaming machine area
Charge 6: Offences in respect of allowing a minor to gamble.
The post VGCCC: Minors Exposed to Gambling at ALH Venues appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has requested the Australian internet service providers (ISPs) to block more illegal online gambling sites, after investigations found these services to be operating in breach of the Interactive Gambling Act 2001.
The latest sites blocked include Casiny, CoinPoker, Crown Play, Fafabet9, SlotFred, Smart 93 and Vigor Spin.
Website blocking is one of a range of enforcement options to protect Australians against illegal online gambling. Since the ACMA made its first blocking request in November 2019, 1251 illegal gambling and affiliate websites have been blocked. Around 220 illegal services have also pulled out of the Australian market since the ACMA started enforcing new illegal online gambling rules in 2017.
The post ACMA Blocks More llegal Online Gambling Websites appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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