ITALY Law and Practice Contributed by: Stefano Sbordoni, Sbordoni & Partners
• Mandatory communications and messages – regu- lar responsible gaming messages must be com- municated, including warnings about time spent, losses, and risk indicators. 8. Anti-Money Laundering (AML) 8.1 AML Legislation AML legislation was introduced by Legislative Decree No 231/2007 and subsequent amendments, which transposed EU Directive 2005/60/EC and extended the obligations relating to customer due diligence, reporting of suspicious transactions, and data reten- tion. The legislation has been progressively expanded to cover the entire gaming and betting sector. Both for land-based gaming/betting and for the online sector, the above-mentioned AML legislation requires all operators to identify each customer who: • make bets for an amount exceeding EUR2,000; and • collects prizes exceeding EUR2,000. For all gaming and betting operators who do not ful- fil the obligations established by the aforementioned AML legislation, administrative fines range from EUR1,000 to EUR10,000. The GdF, pursuant to Legislative Decree No 68/2001, exercises control over compliance with the aforemen- tioned AML provisions. In this regard, on 18 November 2024, the ADM issued specific AML Guidelines for gaming concessionaires. The AML Guidelines required operators to implement appropriate procedures and control systems within 30 days from publication. Further obligations and clari- fications are provided in the guidelines issued by the UIF. All operators who manage casinos or offer games and betting with cash winnings – whether through retail networks or online – are subject to AML regulations. The ADM has clarified that the entire supply chain (eg, outsourcing providers, sub-concessionaires, intermediaries) may also be involved in AML controls
and subject to specific reporting obligations. Con- versely, operators who offer only games without cash winnings – or offer prize contests that do not involve monetary collection – are not included, unless other- wise required by specific legislation. 8.2 AML Requirements The main obligations that gaming operators offering games with cash winnings must comply with are: • customer identification and verification at the time of establishing the business relationship or carry- ing out a transaction – for example, collection of personal data, verification procedures, and identi- fication of the beneficial owner in the case of legal persons; • customer due diligence and risk profiling, particu- larly for significant transactions or high-risk cus- tomers; • reporting of suspicious transactions to the UIF whenever there are elements reasonably suggest- ing that a transaction may be connected to money laundering or terrorist financing; • record-keeping – documentation relating to cus- tomers, transactions and checks performed must be retained for the period required by law (eg, ten years) to demonstrate compliance; • specific payment-related obligations, including limits on the use of cash and the traceability of financial transactions – cash use is restricted to prevent money laundering; • transmission of data by concessionaires to the ADM – for example, in the event of termination of the contractual relationship or reporting by the supply chain; and • staff training – operators must implement training programmes for employees involved in activities exposed to money-laundering risk. Operators who fail to adequately implement AML pro- cedures risk sanctions, suspension of operations, and revocation of the concession (ADM Guidelines). Liability may fall both on the operator (the concession- aire company) and on its internal organisational struc- ture if appropriate measures have not been adopted.
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