Caesars’ Anti-Money Laundering Measures to be Tightened

The UK Gambling Commission revealed that at Caesars’ Playboy Club and Empire Casino Caesars’ anti-money laundering policies have failed.

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) identified plenty of flaws in Caesars’ anti money-laundering policies. The failures occurred at the Playboy Club London and the Empire Casino. For this reason, the UK arm of Caesars Entertainment was fined £845,000. According to the UKGC and Caesars, the amount will be used for socially responsible purposes.

Furthermore, Caesars Entertainment has agreed to share their experience with the wider industry. The document, detailing Caesars’ anti-money laundering policy failures, is now available on the UKGC’s official website. “Caesars has co-operated fully and openly with the Commission in this respect and has acknowledged its shortcomings,” puts the document’s introduction.

The UKGC hopes that the case and shortages of Caesars’ anti-money laundering efforts will provide valuable learning

After the thorough investigation of the anti-money laundering controls at the mentioned venues, the Commission found that Caesars failed to:

• appropriately assess customer risk
• demonstrate appropriate levels of ongoing monitoring
• undertake appropriately rigorous […] checks
• ensure that decision-making records […] were complete
• obtain adequate information with regard to customers’ […] source of wealth
• ensure that customer […] records, and the policies behind those records, were […] comprehensive to form an effective money laundering control system
• undertake appropriate due diligence checks on customers of other overseas

Caesars proposed a voluntary settlement that was accepted by the UKGC. The settlement includes the fee and the publication of the quoted statement. “We hope the industry will learn the lessons from this case – it is their duty to put processes and policies in place to prevent money-laundering,” said Nick Tofiluk, executive director of the UKGC. “If operators don’t put such processes and policies in place then they risk losing their operating licence,” he added. The UKGC will oversee whether the settlement’s terms are met by Caesars.