Dutch gambling regulator issues warnings against three operators

• The Dutch Gambling Authority has issued warnings against three operators
• The violations have to do with Wwft deficiencies and shortcomings
• The regulator has urged operators to take remedial action or face stiffer penalties

The Dutch Gambling Authority has sanctioned three licensed companies in the local market, issuing penalties under the Money Laundering and Terrorism FinancingPrevention Act, or Wwft, as the law is known for its Dutch acronym.

Regulator determined to make gambling companies comply with money laundering laws

The Dutch Gambling Authority has conducted a careful investigation into the three companies in question, analyzing internal documents, such as risk assessment strategies, company guidelines on Wwft compliance, and player files, revealing faults and deficiencies.

The regulator has not taken specific enforcement action other than to highlight the issue and warn the companies to make amendments that swiftly align their offers with the Wwft. The Wwft is an important part of the overall strategy the Dutch Gambling Authority deploys in combating illegal gambling.

Each company that is licensed to operate under Dutch law must track suspicious transactions and report them under the Wwft so that potential criminal activity or money-laundering attempts are identified and investigated by the Dutch Financial Intelligence Unit.

A point of contention that operators and regulated companies often raise is that the Wwft guidelines are not fully released, although the regulator provides all the known information and previously hosted a webinar in 2024 to help operators and local gambling entities catch up.

However, the regulator explained that even based on the available guidelines, there was still room for significant improvement when it came to Wwft compliance. A statement translated directly from the regulator’s website read:

"The KSA has observed, among other areas, that providers do not always conduct this investigation into the source of players' funds. The KSA also sees shortcomings in the area of risk classification of players and the coordination of measures accordingly."

Strict measures take hold across the Dutch gambling market

While the companies in question won’t face immediate enforcement action, the regulator has cautioned that they would be subject to more severe sanctions should they fail to uphold the known Wwft guidelines as part of another inspection.

The Dutch market has become the subject of heavy player-focused regulation over the past months. On July 1, 2025, the market introduced its expanded ban on gambling advertisements.

However, the market is still struggling to contain the gross gaming revenue in the country, even though it has achieved a very high level of channelization – over 90% based on most estimates.

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