ANJ Warns French Operators on AML/CFT Duties After NSC Sanctions Betsson France for Asset-Freezing Failures
The ANJ has warned French operators on AML/CFT compliance after the NSC sanctioned Betsson France with a €20,000 fine and suspended prohibition in 2025. Inspections will intensify and procedures are being revised for better alerts, due diligence and TRACFIN reports. A new algorithm using 23 indicators will benchmark detection of pathological gambling.
SCCG Take — Operators should immediately audit asset-freezing and screening controls, as European regulators are aligning enforcement with data-led supervision.
The Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) has issued a conditional warning to licensed gambling operators in France to ensure anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) guidelines are followed and reported.
This follows the ANJ‘s first referral of a licensed operator to France’s National Sanctions Commission (NSC) in 2025. The case involved failures relating to asset-freezing commands and inadequate internal procedures to notify authorities of suspicious transactions.
The NSC upheld the breaches. It imposed a €20,000 fine and a suspended two-month operating prohibition on the operator. A former executive received a €20,000 fine and a suspended two-month management ban. A senior compliance figure was fined €5,000 and received the same suspended restriction.
Further disclosures identified the operator as Betsson France, which had entered the French market by 2024. The ANJ reminded all licensed operators that they must maintain adequate systems, staffing and internal procedures to identify customers and entities subject to asset-freezing measures. Operators must prevent designated individuals from opening accounts or placing bets, immediately freeze funds when a restriction is identified, and report any applicable measure to the Minister for the Economy.
The regulator warned that its AML/CFT inspections will intensify. Operators should review customer-screening controls, escalation procedures, staff training and reporting arrangements. Similar steps by the UK Gambling Commission recently produced licence suspensions for Bet St George, BresBet and Ken Howells, plus a £600,000 fine for QuinnBet, according to SBC News.
Revised AML Procedures and Due Diligence Requirements
The ANJ is revising its AML procedures to improve operators’ alert systems and strengthen due diligence checks on higher-risk customers, particularly individuals whose occupations may expose them to corruption. Operators must also improve customer risk classification, internal controls and the quality of suspicious-transaction reports submitted to TRACFIN.
Algorithm for Detecting Excessive Gambling
Alongside these reforms the ANJ has launched an algorithm that assesses players against 23 financial and behavioural indicators, including account transactions, playing frequency, use of gambling limits and previous interventions. The tool will provide the ANJ with a common benchmark against which operators’ detection systems can be assessed.
These projects are now overseen by Pascal Chèvremont, who was appointed President of the ANJ in June 2026, succeeding the regulator’s inaugural president, Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin. Chèvremont inherits an expanded supervisory programme centred on data-led monitoring, player protection and the fight against financial crime.
Reporting: SBC News
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