- The Canadian budget released on Tuesday includes a commitment to bring regulated casinos under the authority of money laundering and counter terrorist legislation.
- While the latest announcement does not signify a threat to online gambling, it is a small step further on the road to making the Canadian environment less gambling friendly.
The Canadian budget released on Tuesday includes a commitment to bring regulated casinos under the authority of money laundering and counter terrorist legislation aimed at financial institutions. The commitment extends to regulating virtual currencies such as Bitcoin.
Strict suspicious activity reporting and formal notification of all transactions over $10k will be required if the measure is enacted.
Canada is considered to have a liberal online gaming environment. Major companies such as Caesars Interactive Entertainment and Amaya Gaming have their headquarters there. However, in practice, a number of companies have found it difficult to operate and have left the market.
Neteller left the Canadian market several years ago, and Skrill followed suit at the beginning of this year. Several poker sites stopped serving the market in 2013, including a flip flop decision by Titan Poker which said that it was leaving, but then decided to stay.
Many online players have relocated to Canada from the US after Black Friday, and there have been many reports of difficulty getting Canadian banks—which have strong correspondent relationships with US banks—to accept gambling transactions.
While the latest announcement does not signify a threat to online gambling, it is a small step further on the road to making the Canadian environment less gambling friendly.
