EU removes two major gambling hubs from AML watchlist

Some countries are on their way to be taken off the EU AML risk list, including Gibraltar and the UAE – two hotspots for the gambling sector.

The amendments were introduced by a Commission Delegated Regulation, and are expected to enter the Official Journal of the EU if the European Parliament or the Council of the EU do not object to them.

Individual jurisdiction assessments correspond to the Financial Action Task Force’s (FATF) proprietary analysis, which has delisted the same countries from its own high-risk money laundering list.

Gibraltar

The UK Overseas Territory is one of the eight countries that have satisfied the EU and the FATF risk assessments.

This includes evidenced improvement of strategic AML/CFT deficiencies, supported by meaningful changes to regulatory and legal frameworks. 

As a result, Gibraltar is no longer required to apply enhanced due diligence measures within international business relations due to gaining a reduced risk profile, significantly lessening administrative red tape for companies wanting to do business there – including those from the gambling sector.

However, some experts have followed Gibraltar’s delisting with scepticism. For one, Malta Media highlighted that the Gibraltar Financial Intelligence Unity (GFIU) has reported 1,498 Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) in the first three months of 2025.

The media additionally noted that 50% of these SARs “originated from online gambling operators”, while more than 677 were tagged as potential money laundering cases.

In that sense, Malta Media questioned whether Gibraltar’s practical enforcement outweighed the actions put down on paper, with formal compliance “often assessed through regulatory frameworks, rather than practical outcomes.”

UAE

The AML risk delisting will also be great news for the United Arab Emirates, with the country currently in the process of expanding its gambling market – in a strategy that aims to diversify its economy and potentially multiply the profits from what is already a booming tourism sector.

Efforts towards this path were first made official with the establishment of the UAE’s very own General Commercial Gaming Regulatory Authority (GCGRA) back in 2023.

The first commercial gaming licence was handed to international gambling and hospitality conglomerate Wynn Resorts. Given the EU’s latest assessment of the country, more investor interest is guaranteed to follow soon.