Canada has always been accused of lagging behind the rest of the world when it comes to the regulation of online casinos. Steps have been taken in recent months to rectify that problem. Provisions have been included in the 2014 Canadian Budget and the Economic Action Plan to ensure that online casinos in the country are sufficiently regulated. There are also specific regulations targeting the casinos and customers that prefer to do their business in the form of virtual currencies, such as Bitcoin. These laws will help Canada recoup tax on those transactions, along with the ability to spot any illegal money laundering through online casinos.

Information Sharing –

Aside from regulating casino practices and getting a larger portion of tax, Canada is very interested in collecting information from casinos that operate in the country. Allowing for greater transparency helps the government as they target money laundering and potential terrorist actions. This marks a clear effort from the Canadian government to gain broader powers of surveillance to track illegal activities.

The purpose of this regulation is not to bring the integrity of casinos into repute, but to track the origin and destination of money online. Many casinos are completely unaware that their site is being used for money laundering. The government is particularly interested in any transactions that involve Canadian citizens and foreign sources. It is widely known that money launderers use smaller online casinos to funnel their money to various destinations.

Finance Ministry –

Thanks to the new laws, the Canadian Finance Ministry will have the ability to contact any online casino operating in the country for information. There is no need for the finance ministry to provide a warrant or a justification for this action. If they ask an online casino to provide files on certain customers or transactions, the casino must comply or cease operations in Canada.

Revenues and Responsibility –

The idea behind these laws is to put the onus of responsibility on casinos. For too long, online casinos have been operating in a bubble. They get their fair share of revenue from Canadian customers without paying their share of tax. This has changed with the new laws. In addition, information sharing is seen as vital by the Canadian government. It will only require small adjustments from casinos, but their cooperation will help the government’s anti-terror and anti-money laundering efforts.

For more information about this report, click here.