B.C. to target money laundering, fraud with new gambling regulations

The British Columbia government is introducing new gaming regulations in a bid to curb money laundering and fraud.

The Public Safety and Solicitor General’s Ministry says in a statement that the new Gaming Control Act will address the recommendations of two high-profile investigations, the Dirty Money report by Peter German in 2018 and the Cullen Commission of inquiry into money laundering in 2022.

The changes include the creation of an independent gambling regulator to establish a “standards-based regulatory model” for gaming that includes the ability for the regulator to issue directives to the BC Lottery Corp. without ministry consent.

Solicitor General Nina Krieger says in the statement that the new regulations give the province’s new Independent Gambling Control Office the ability to “more effectively address criminal activity.”

The act was originally passed in fall 2022 and set to take effect next April.

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The new gambling control office is being transitioned from the existing Gaming Policy and Enforcement Branch and is designed to provide regulatory oversight of BC Lottery Corp. gaming as well as charitable gambling and the province’s horse-racing sector.

The government says the change will also come will registration and licensing fee increases in some areas to reflect inflation and the costs of operating the independent regulator.

It also says the new regulations will better address previous weaknesses in the system such as dealing with online gambling and changing gaming technologies.