Danish regulator reports Tipwin to police
German operator Tipwin Ltd. a bookmaker that offers multi-channel sports betting, has been reported to the police by the Danish gaming authority – Spillemyndigheden – for irregularities in their written policies and procedures. The reported violations were said to be a serious breach of Denmark’s Money Laundering Act.
Tipwin have been given three months to comply with all the regulations under the Money Laundering Act. ©Mark König/Unsplash
The regulatory body found that the betting operator, which is registered in Malta, hadn’t prepared an important document in the form of a risk assessment related to its sale of bets in the retail market until May 16, 2022. The operator also did not have any of its business procedures explicitly written down, which is a prerequisite under the nation’s anti-money laundering regulations. This was found to be the case for their land-based retail betting offerings until May 25, 2022.
With these holes in their business, the authority flagged them due to what was technically a lack of information about the extent of their own exposure to money laundering as well as terrorist financing. While those stipulations sound alarming, it is standard procedure for all gambling operators in most regulated countries to brandish such information so that the regulation authorities can offer sufficient protections and interventions should it ever be needed.
As such, a lack of information on these important factors can be a potential vulnerability and grounds for police interventions. That is how things have played out for Tipwin in this instance. In a statement on their website, Spillemyndigheden noted the follows:
“On 21 June 2022, the Danish Gambling Authority has reported Tipwin Limited (hereafter referred to as Tipwin) to the police for breaching the rules on risk assessment, policies, business procedures, and supervision of sections 7(1) and 8(1) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act regarding their provision of land-based gambling products.”
“At the same time, the Danish Gambling Authority has given Tipwin an order for breaching the rules on risk assessment, business procedures and the obligation to train staff of sections 7(1), 8(1) and 8(6) of the Anti-Money Laundering Act regarding their provision of land-based gambling products. The order is also given for breaching the rules on business procedures of section 8(1) cf. 26(1) regarding their provision of online gambling products.”
Police report
This isn’t the first instance of Spillemyndigheden intervening with an operator in the country. In February, Reel Denmark had been cautioned along similar lines, while as recently as May, they had reprimanded Hillside (New Media Malta) PLC for failing to investigate the origins of the funds used by a younger player.
In neither of those cases, however, were police reports filed. In both instances, the focus was on the respective operators’ lack of investigation into particular players. In the case of Tipwin, however, the problem was found to be a deeper issue than that. The authority explained the rationale behind this instance being handed over to the police for investigation:
“The Danish Gambling Authority has reported Tipwin to the police, because Tipwin up until 16 May 2022 had not prepared a risk assessment of their sale of land-based betting products and did not have written procedures on their provision of their land-based gambling products. Moreover, Tipwin did not have sufficient business procedures for and supervision of their provision of land-based gambling products in relation to Anti-Money Laundering up until 25 May 2022.”
“By neglecting to prepare a risk assessment, policies and sufficient business procedures for their provision of land-based gambling products, Tipwin has exposed itself to a significant risk of being abused for purposes of money laundering. Therefore, the Danish Gambling Authority has turned the case over to the police for investigation.”
Tipwin given a deadline to sort things out
Tipwin Ltd. was founded in 2011, and identify themselves as a Maltese company. They list German footballing giant Bayer Leverkusen as one of their premium partners, as well as the German Basketball Federation. At the core of their business, they are a sportsbook offering markets across multiple sports and leagues.
Spillemyndigheden has given Tipwin Ltd. a deadline of three months starting June 21 to “correct the matters concerning risk assessment” and to sort out their business procedures, including training their staff as necessary.
