Europe's new AML Authority: what impact for the gambling industry?
AML regulator lines up gambling and crypto, UK offshore sponsor ban, EU tax &Co
Hello, on Gaming&Co today:
New European AML regulator: what impact for the gambling industry?
UK government to ban offshore sports sponsorship
Pitch for EU gambling tax draws industry ire
Results: Super Group, Gentoo Media, Light&Wonder, GIG
NIBS: Stake.dk live, ANJ warns against PMs, Allwyn
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Europe’s new AML regulator has gambling industry in sight
Anti-Money Laundering Authority gears up to harmonise rules at EU scale
Newly-hatched: The Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA) is the European Union’s latest regulatory body. Established in 2024 before becoming active in July 2025, its goal is to unify disparate national AML regulations into a consistent set of rules, fight financial crime more effectively and directly monitor the most high risk businesses in the EU. Now in early 2026, the AMLA has issued its first official documents: outlining a pathway to becoming fully operational by 2028 and publishing a trio of consultations that the online gambling industry is being advised to pay close attention to.
The AML super-regulator has broad powers to rewrite financial rules and punish those that misbehave. It will monitor the entire EU and directly supervise 40 companies that present the largest money laundering risks. This list is still being collated, but is likely to include banks, crypto exchanges and fintech firms.
Where does gambling sit? European gambling companies often speak of their desire for regulatory harmonisation at the EU level, so the creation of a bloc-level entity that centralises AML oversight will be welcomed by executives. With the AMLA in its early stages, however, some key backers of harmonisation told Gaming&Co it was “too early to offer a verdict on the new supervisory authority”.
Learn from the past: Historically, the EU has not viewed online gambling as a high risk area for money laundering, although that has not exempted the sector from complying with a large volume of AML rules. Land-based casinos, meanwhile, have been considered a noteworthy area of risk and are subject to stricter supervision.
That perspective is unchanged in the early days of the AMLA,. In an interview published on its website, the authority’s chair, Braun Szego, cited “casinos” in her list of non-financial sector industries that the regulator has its eye on, but made no mention of online gambling.
Despite this, the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) is advising the industry to review its risk assessments, governance arrangements and AML/CFT controls now. Malta spent a year on the Financial Action Task Force greylist in 2022 and officials are keen to remain in the good graces of international AML watchdogs.
Guilty by association: Experts however believe that several key sectors with strong links to gambling will be very tightly regulated by the new body. These include payments firms, a key cog in the online gambling ecosystem, several of which could find themselves among the 40 companies/corporate groups that the AMLA will opt to directly regulate.
Crypto watch: There is also a clear intent to closely watch the use of cryptocurrencies within the EU. The authority will make its decisions on which lucky firms populate the top 40 in the second half of 2027.
First salvo
In early February, the AMLA published a Single Programming Document, kicking off what the authority has described as a “decisive” year for anti-money laundering in Europe. The document also outlines how the AMLA will go about completing one of its key projects: to compile an EU AML/CFT Single Rulebook that will establish bloc-wide AML regulations.
Not stopping there: The watchdog has also opened its first ever consultations. A trio of proposed measures includes laying out the rules by which it will determine its enforcement action. For gambling companies, the maximum fines allowed would be either €1m or twice the money gained through illicit means, whichever is higher. The two other consultations relate to the technical details of vital new AML rules, including how companies should verify customer identity.
Online gambling HQ: As Europe’s hub for online gambling operations, Malta’s relationship with the AMLA is of particular concern to the industry. Brussels and Malta have had a rocky relationship in recent years, with the European Commission recently demanding that the nation scrap its controversial Bill 55 measure that blocks player refund cases and ignores Member States’ decisions.
A spokesperson for the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) told G&Co that the regulator “welcomes” the creation of the AMLA and its mission to address the fragmented nature of AML supervision in Europe. “At the same time, it is essential that any regulatory approach remains risk‑based and proportionate, and that it adequately reflects the operational realities of non‑financial sectors such as gaming,” they added.
Get involved: The gambling industry is being encouraged to engage with the new authority’s three consultations in order to help shape upcoming AML policy. “Gaming licensees should view the coming period as an important transition phase,” said the MGA spokesperson.
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UK government to ban offshore sports sponsorship
Loophole allowing unlicensed sponsors would finally be closed
And stay out: The UK government plans to ban unlicensed gambling companies from sponsoring sports clubs, in a move it says will protect British consumers from unlicensed gambling. Under plans laid out in a consultation announcement earlier this week, the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) said it would become illegal for any gambling company to sponsor a club without first possessing a UK gambling licence.
Closing the loop: Currently it is not against the law for the operators, which are all Asia-focused and licensed on the Isle of Man, to do this, the government said, and a number of high profile teams, including nearly half of those in the Premier League, are taking advantage of this loophole. If PL clubs agreed to ban shirt-front sponsorships of from the start of next season, shirt sleeves and deals with lower league clubs and in other sports will still be available.
Actually...: The move is being pitched by the government as a way to protect consumers in the British market, but it is widely acknowledged that the real power of these sponsorship deals is the international promotion they offer in Asia when games are broadcast on Asian TV networks.
International reach: The topic also applies to other markets, albeit in different ways. For example, major football clubs in France or Spain often sign international betting partnerships with operators that are not licensed in the country, which gives the latter credibility, exposure and the ability to leverage major media and sports assets. This is particularly true for the Premier League, which reaches an audience of more than 3 billion people globally.
BGC onside: The announcement was welcomed by UK trade group the Betting and Gaming Council, which represents the largest licensed operators in the British market. A spokesperson said that it was important to shut out the black market, “at a time when the regulated sector is facing significantly higher taxation and ever tighter regulation while reducing advertising spend”.
Pitch for EU gambling tax draws industry ire
EGBA says proposals is unworkable
I’ve got an idea: The European Gaming and Betting Association has hit back at proposals by the Vice President of the European Parliament Victor Negrescu to create a new EU-wide tax on online gambling. The EU official alleged that “the significant share of [gambling industry] profits escapes fair taxation” and that a new rate could generate as much as €4bn a year for the EU budget. Negrescu however was vague on the details of his proposal and is yet to submit a bill to parliament.
Bad call: EBGA called the idea “fundamentally unworkable” and said that the lack of harmonisation of gambling rules in the bloc would make it impossible to implement. EGBA added that the idea could also boost the black market, which would evade the tax just as it does all national levies.
“Imposing an EU tax on top of existing national taxes would only make this situation worse: expanding the black market, harming European consumer protection and ultimately leading to lower tax revenues for Member States,” said Maartin Haijer, Secretary General of EGBA.
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Results roundup: super Group, Gentoo Media, L&W, GIG
Super Group CEO Neal Menashe hailed 2025 as “a standout year” after the Betway and Spin parent record a 8% rise in Q4 revenues to $578.3 thanks to growth in Europe, Africa and Ontario, Canada. Pre-tax profits were down $8m to $95m but adj. EBITDA rose 10% to $139m.
A successful launch in Botswana and strong volumes in the UK powered a 22% rise in FY25 revenues to $2.2bn and offset declines in Latin America and APAC markets, the group said. Pre-tax profits jumped 75% to $356m and adj. EBITDA rose 57% to $560m. For 2026 the group said revenues will be “greater than $2.55bn” and adj. EBITDA would be “greater than $680m”.
Gentoo Media said Q4 revenues suffered from “lower sports margins and a more moderate seasonal uplift in December” which led to a 16% YoY drop to €25.6m, although underlying performance was solid as deposit levels reached “an all-time high” of more than €200m. EBITDA before special items reached €15m 14the company maintained FY26, with revenues set to reach €105–€115m and EBITDA before special items €49-€54m.
The integration of Grover Gaming, investment in its games studios and momentum in iGaming and in the US helped Light&Wonder’s Q4 revenues rise 12% YoY to $891m as adj. EBITDA increased 29% to $405m. However, the group also recorded a net loss of $15m due to legal costs of $128m linked to its dispute with Aristocrat, $25m in M&A fair value adjustment, and $18m in transition costs to the Australian Securities Exchange.
A combination of six client launches and cost savings helped Gaming Innovation Group record a 8% rise in Q4 revenues to €9.5m and adj. EBITDA of €1.5m as operating losses nearly halved to €3.6m in the quarter. For 2025, revenues increased 18% to €37.6m and adj. EBITDA was €4.3m vs. losses of €3m in 2024.
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News shorts
Crypto-gambling giant Stake is now live in Denmark after securing a five-year licence for the market and around 12 months after its parent company Easygo acquired Mocino Play, which operates the Danish brand VinderCasino. Stake has acquired a number of licences in regulated markets such as Colombia, Peru, Brazil and Italy, and is live in those two countries.
Peter Eugen Clausen, MD of Stake.dk, said the brand will be “raising the bar in terms of product, transparency, and entertainment, and I believe increased competition from brands like Stake will only drive the market forward in a positive way”, while Easygo CSO Brais Pena said “with each new market, our momentum continues to build as we deliver on our global expansion strategy”.
Stake made around $170m in net profits in 2025 but has come under attack in France for the content that is streamed on its platform Kick.
Despite prediction markets being banned and deemed illegal in France, the Autorité Nationale des Jeux has warned consumers against taking part in betting on sites similar to Polymarket or Kalshi because they presented “several addictive features (that are) similar to those found in online gambling (that were) amplified by the absence of the protective mechanisms that exist in the legal gambling market”.
The two market leaders have geo-blocked French consumers from signing up to their sites, but ANJ said the hybrid nature and fast rise of prediction markets in the past two years meant the general public had to be vigilant not to expose itself to the product.
ANJ said Germany, Belgium, Romania, Switzerland, the Netherlands, Poland, Greece, Cyprus, Ukraine and Portugal have blocked access to Polymarket, arguing that the platform offers unlicensed gambling.
Allwyn has finalised its issue of €550m in senior secured notes, which it will use mainly to pay back OPAP shareholders following the merger of the two companies and other debts.
Calendar
Results: Feb 26: Flutter, Cirsa, Codere Online Mar 2 : Lottomatica, Mar 5 : Banijay Group
Contact
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