The European parliament has approved a new anti-money laundering directive following two years of negotiations.

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Once the directive, which introduces a single set of AML rules for the online gambling sector, is published in the Official Journal of the EU, member states will have two years to transpose it into national law.

Welcoming the move, Maarten Haijer, secretary general of the European Betting and Gaming Association, said: “EGBA has actively engaged with the EU institutions to include online gambling in the new directive. It should ensure that EU online gambling providers now have one rather than 28 sets of AML rules to comply with to provide their services in the EU.

“The risk-based assessment underpinning the directive will apply to all services, with the exception of land-based casinos where there can be larger sums of cash involved.”

He added that the EGBA is confident the directive will add to the safe provision of EU-regulated i-gaming.