Ireland will strengthen its scrutiny of gambling as a “sector vulnerable to money laundering and criminal exposure”, as the government launches its first National Anti-Money Laundering Strategy.
The strategy was revealed last Friday by Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris. Its design establishes a full agency framework covering anti-money laundering (AML), countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) and countering proliferation financing (CPF).
The Department of Finance backs the strategy to deliver key upgrades to Ireland’s governance of financial services and institutions, an overhaul needed as “the most significant strengthening of Ireland’s anti-money laundering framework in years”.
A cooperative multi-agency approach is required to deliver “a coordinated approach to prevent criminals, fraudsters and terrorist financiers from exploiting Ireland’s financial system”.
The strategy follows the publication of Ireland’s 2026 National Risk Assessment (NRA) on money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing, alongside its Priority Action Implementation Plan.
Gambling is explicitly identified among the sectors requiring stronger supervision due to its exposure to money-laundering risks, attractive to criminal gangs and networks.
The government has subsequently committed to “strengthen supervision of financial institutions and improve oversight of sectors particularly vulnerable to money laundering, including gambling”.
The AML strategy is built around five objectives:
- Strengthening national coordination
- Improving the identification and understanding of financial-crime risks
- Delivering a stronger regulatory framework
- Building capabilities across government and the private sector
- Enhancing international cooperation.
Ireland’s new regulator takes action
The changes arrive at a crucial period for Irish gambling, as the government continues the implementation of the Gambling Regulation Act 2024, legislation designed to replace analogue laws of the the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 and the Betting Act 1931.
The Act established the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) as the market’s new independent regulator. The authority became operational on 5 March 2025, taking responsibility for the oversight of online and land-based betting, gaming and certain lottery activities.
Ireland’s new licensing regime subsequently opened on 9 February 2026, when the GRAI began accepting applications for in-person betting, Remote Betting and Remote Betting Intermediary licences.
Applicants are subject to centralised checks covering their suitability, financial capacity and ability to meet customer liabilities, including scrutiny of whether funds originate from lawful activities.
Preventing gambling from becoming a source of, or support for, criminal activity is one of the core principles underpinning the Gambling Regulation Act. The GRAI also holds enforcement powers that can ultimately lead to financial penalties, licence suspension or revocation and criminal prosecution.
As such, AML oversight will form an important part of the GRAI’s wider compliance and enforcement responsibilities as Ireland establishes its new regulatory system.
The GRAI is already a standing member of Ireland’s Anti-Money Laundering Steering Committee (AMLSC), which provides national oversight and coordination between government departments and agencies.
The regulator’s own 2025-27 strategy places licensing, monitoring, compliance and enforcement at the centre of its mandate as it establishes oversight of Ireland’s new gambling marketplace.
The government will further seek to strengthen intelligence sharing between departments, An Garda Síochána, Revenue, FIU Ireland, the Criminal Assets Bureau, Central Bank of Ireland and financial institutions, providing authorities with a broader view of suspicious financial activity moving across different sectors.
Crypto is a secondary vulnerability
Gambling is not the only emerging vulnerability placed under heightened scrutiny.
The government has identified crypto-assets and crypto transfers as another key financial-crime risk, amid concerns that criminals are increasingly using new technologies and complex international financial networks to disguise the origins and destinations of illicit funds.
Harris warned: “Criminal organisations are becoming increasingly sophisticated. They are exploiting new technologies, crypto-assets and complex international financial networks to conceal criminal profits. Government must continue to stay ahead of those threats.”
The strategy will strengthen AML and CFT requirements for crypto transfers through Ireland’s implementation of the EU Transfer of Funds Regulation and its so-called “Travel Rule”, requiring information concerning the originator and beneficiary to accompany crypto-asset transfers.
Further requirements will introduce enhanced checks on transfers involving private crypto wallets and stricter due diligence when dealing with overseas crypto firms.
The government will also implement the EU’s broader AML legislative package, strengthen beneficial-ownership transparency and modernise Ireland’s financial-intelligence capabilities to improve the detection of cyber-enabled fraud, sanctions evasion and other emerging financial crimes.
Harris: Ireland to lead Europe’s AML fight
For Ireland’s gambling sector, the developments add another compliance dimension to an already transformative period.
The GRAI is simultaneously establishing a new licensing system and developing controls covering consumer protection, advertising, enforcement and gambling harms.
Ireland’s new AML strategy makes clear that protecting the financial integrity of the gambling marketplace will sit alongside these responsibilities.
Implementation will require cooperation between regulators, government departments, law enforcement and licensed businesses as Ireland also prepares for its next Financial Action Task Force (FATF) Mutual Evaluation.
Launching the strategy, Harris said the reforms would provide law-enforcement agencies with stronger tools, improve intelligence sharing and strengthen oversight of emerging financial-crime risks.
He concluded with a clear warning to businesses and criminal networks seeking to exploit the Irish economy:
“Today’s launch sends a clear message: Ireland will not be a safe place to launder criminal proceeds. We will continue to pursue organised criminals, protect our financial system and safeguard Ireland’s reputation as one of the safest and most trusted places in Europe to live, work and do business.”
For gambling operators entering Ireland’s new regime, the direction is equally clear: meeting responsible gambling and consumer-protection requirements will only form part of the regulatory test, as financial-crime prevention becomes a central component of compliance under the GRAI.