British Columbia seeks a money laundering solution that could actually change the landscape in the province and restore people’s trust in the system. British Columbia Lottery Corporation is willing to take matters into its own hands and look for the most determined partner that would come with an anti-money laundering solution. A pre-qualification is available online at the moment and the levels of interest are projected to be high.
At this point, money laundering is associated with British Columbia’s gambling field and especially so with the Lower Mainland casino venues that have been among the preferred ones for high roller casino players and foreigners. Often times in the past they have been joined by younger males with bags of cash, who are the so-called loan sharks supplying them with casino buy-in and constant cash refuel. Battling this practice has become increasingly hard, evident by the most recent pieces of information revealed in Dr. Peter German’s second report on cash washing.
Casino Money Laundering Continues
The partially released report points out that over the span of the past 12 months solely, some CA$7.4 billion has been washed through the province, including fields to the likes of gambling and the real estate field. In this situation, the gaming field managed to wash about CA$2 billion, but this is still considered being a substantial amount.
BCLC realizes that the existing tools for battling the illegal practice are outdated and incapable of handling the task in an adequate manner. In the past, about CA$7.3 million was spent on the existing solution, which was condemned by Dr. German as an ineffective one. A US-based company offered one that has previously been used in financial institutions.
In this sense, it failed to meet the expectations and requirements, meaning that existing approaches were utilized once again. Dr. German said that the approach should be changed in general with a brand new contractor, instead of investing more of voters’ money in the ineffective solution. The new solution that should replace it has to offer a modern approach.
New Solution Could Come Soon
Anyone interested in applying for the responsible position that would aim to transform the field could do this online. Among the future responsibilities of this solution would be keeping a close eye on online gambling, Patron Gaming Fund accounts, Source of Funds reporting as well as continuous monitoring of certain customers and their transactions.
Contractors applying online would have to prove that they are worthy for the position by demonstrating that their system has been applied in a casino field. Listing Canada-based locations that have already benefitted from it would also be a positive boost in the right direction for the proponents. Once it is greenlighted, the system would have to cover both online and brick-and-mortar casino venues in British Columbia. They will have until May 24 to apply for the position.
Meanwhile, public inquiry becomes an increasingly popular topic across the province. Even though Great Canadian Gaming Corporation and Gateway Casinos & Entertainment are leaders in the field, the public inquiry step could lead to a potential government takeover of casino operation. Upcoming weeks are set to see development on the topic and money laundering system bidders.
