Casinos have traditionally had a less-than-stellar track record when it comes to their anti-money laundering efforts. But now, amid increased scrutiny from regulators, the American Gaming Association has released its first-ever AML best practices guidebook, described as a “a milestone for the gaming industry" and a "forward-looking set of best practices that reflect our industry’s commitment to a strong culture of compliance.”

Fred Curry, a principal in Deloitte’s anti-money laundering consulting practice says that while banks have leading-edge AML programs, casinos don’t consider themselves to be banks, despite the fact that they have teller windows, transfer huge amounts of money, make loans, and exchange currencies. As a result, they don’t have anywhere near the AML muscle that banks have. As the Treasury Department’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network pressures casinos to up their game, many are scrambling to play catch-up.

In this week’s podcast, we talk to Curry about the new guidebook, whether it goes far enough, and what other businesses can learn from the scrutiny on casinos.

Listen to the Podcast. (11 min., 10 MB)

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