Legislation

Danish authority hands out three injunctions and one reprimand to Mr. Green for breach of the Money Laundering Act

By Phil - 15 April 2024

On 10 April 2024, the Danish Gambling Authority issued Mr. Green Limited with three orders for violating the Money Laundering Act’s rules on risk assessment, the rules for business procedures for internal controls, and for failure to control that controls are carried out.

The uthority has also reprimanded Mr. Green Limited for violating the Money Laundering Act’s rules on notification. It carried out an inspection of Mr. Green Limited’s material, which Mr. Green Limited has prepared in order to comply with the Money Laundering Act.

The Authority stated: “Injunction (a) has been issued because Mr. Green’s risk assessment is flawed, as no separate risk assessment has been made of the individual identified risks associated with Mr. Green’s business model, including payment solutions, and the risk factors associated therewith. Section 7(1) of the Danish Money Laundering Act states that companies covered by the Act must identify and assess the risk that the company may be misused for money laundering or terrorist financing. It is the Danish Gambling Authority’s assessment that the risk assessment must make a separate assessment of the risk associated with the individual payment solutions and delivery channels, as well as a separate risk assessment of the risk factors associated with this. Thus, Mr. Green has not complied with the obligation of risk assessment in section 7(1) of the Danish Money Laundering Act.”

“Injunction (b) has been granted because Mr. Green Limited does not have adequate procedures for internal controls, as these do not describe the interval at which the controls are to be performed. The injunction has also been granted because Mr. Green Limited does not have written procedures for monitoring the performance of controls. It follows from section 8(1) of the Danish Money Laundering Act that companies covered by the Act must have sufficient written business procedures, which must include internal control. The procedures must describe how the listed areas are handled in practice. The requirement for internal control also means that checks must be carried out to see whether the controls are carried out – that is, that controls are carried out on the controls. Mr. Green Limited has not adequately complied with the obligations on control procedures.”

“Injunction (c) has been issued because Mr. Green Limited has not documented that checks have been carried out that the internal controls have been carried out. It follows from section 8(1) of the Money Laundering Act that companies covered by the Act must document the checks that have been carried out. As a result, Mr. Green Limited has failed to comply with the obligations to carry out checks to ensure that internal controls are carried out.”

“Reprimand (a) has been issued because Mr. Green Limited has in two cases failed to comply with the requirement that immediate notification be made to the Money Laundering Secretariat. It follows from section 26(1) of the Danish Money Laundering Act that a company must immediately notify the Money Laundering Secretariat if the company is aware, suspects or has reasonable grounds to suspect that a transaction, funds or activity is or has been related to money laundering or terrorist financing. Mr. Green has not complied with the notification obligations in the absence of immediate notification.”

The injunctions impose a duty of conduct on the part of Mr. Green Limited. Mr. Green Limited must submit a revised risk assessment by 10 June 2024. Mr. Green must also submit by June 10, 2024, an audited internal control business procedure and submit established procedures for how controls are conducted.

In addition, Mr. Green Limited must submit documentation by 10 October 2024 that checks have been carried out that the checks have been carried out. The complaint does not impose any obligation on the part of Mr. Green Limited as it is a cease-to-exist infringement.