Archived Insights

Two Turkish-owned banks operating in Germany, Akbank and Ziraat Bank, have come under fire from the German financial regulator (BaFin) over serious shortcomings in anti-money laundering controls, risk management and internal governance.

Over the past year, two successful efforts to legalize internet lottery sales have flown under the radar as stalled efforts to legalize online slots and table games in a handful of U.S. states garner legislative attention.

Slovakia’s government has banned land-based gambling this Saturday as the country mourns the death of Pope Francis.

The UK will become the first country in Europe to outlaw the possession and supply of SIM farms, in a bid to disrupt the tools deployed by organised fraud gangs.

So far in 2025, US fintech giant Block has agreed to pay almost $300m to settle allegations of fraud prevention, anti-money laundering (AML) and know your customer (KYC) failures. With a potential criminal case also looming, firms should be aware that compliance failures can trigger a chain reaction of enforcement, if multiple regulators decide to pursue similar or overlapping cases.

Uber has denied allegations that it engaged in deceptive practices and ran subscription traps filed in a lawsuit by the US Federal Trade Commission (FTC).

The Philippine Supreme Court has ruled that the lowest tier of government, the local community “barangay”, is permitted to run bingo fundraisers without the permission of gambling regulator PAGCOR or any other government body.

One of the key agitators for overhauling gambling policy in the UK has warned that campaigners are set to return with a fresh frontier for reform: a completely new Gambling Act.

The Nevada Gaming Commission on Thursday voted to fine MGM Resorts International $8.5m to settle a state gaming regulator's complaint over money laundering in which a former executive allowed illegal bookmakers to gamble millions and pay debts in cash at two Las Vegas properties.

The Trump administration’s rollout of policies, including tariffs and drastic spending cuts within its first 100 days in office, continues to cause uncertainty and volatility, even if it is too early to measure the full impact on gaming companies.

Kenya’s Ministry of Health has outlined the government's response to its “deep concern” about increasing gambling addiction in the community, particularly among young people, “driven by the popularity of online gambling platforms such as Aviator”.

On March 3, 2025, the Bank of Israel (BOI) unveiled the preliminary design for its central bank digital currency (CBDC), the Digital Shekel (DS), marking a significant step towards modernising the country’s payment landscape. With features such as real-time settlement, interoperability with other payment systems and digital assets, and a strong emphasis on user privacy, the DS aims to serve domestic and cross-border payment needs. The system also includes a tiered service model for payment providers, catering to varying customer requirements while maintaining compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) regulations.

The Bank of Thailand has released a set of draft regulations intended to enhance the supervision of retail payment systems deemed critical to the country’s financial infrastructure.

Chile has taken a page from the EU’s playbook, with its new rules on payment security and authentication clearing taking inspiration from the revised Payment Services Directive (PSD2).

A specialist unit of Japan’s Ministry of Internal Affairs and Communications has begun drawing up regulatory reforms and may push for new legislation to suppress the nation’s online gambling boom.

The rise of online sweepstakes casinos in the U.S. has become a serious issue for state gaming regulators, as they believe the offshore, unregulated websites are illegal gambling operations.

Videoslots will appeal the Swedish Gambling Authority's decision to issue it with a warning and a SEK11m (€1.1m) fine, arguing it raises questions about existing legal expectations on licensees regarding duty of care requirements.

In a significant move towards strengthening financial integrity, on March 6, 2025, the National Assembly of the Republic of Serbia published Amendments to the Law on the Prevention of Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing in the official gazette. These amendments align Serbian regulations with EU Directive (EU) 2015/843 (5th Anti-Money Laundering Directive) and international standards set by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and MONEYVAL. The updates aim to enhance due diligence, increase transparency and reinforce oversight over digital assets and beneficial ownership structures.

The Federal Reserve and Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation have fined Discover a total of $250m for overcharging merchants on the same day its acquisition by Capital One was approved.

A German lawmaker has raised concerns with the European Commission over the effectiveness of its enforcement action against hawala banking practices, the informal method of cross-border transactions.

Banking and finance hubs Singapore and Hong Kong have simultaneously pushed for higher standards in the financial sector when it comes to cyber resilience.