France’s ANJ warns gambling operators on AML/CFT duties after first 2025 sanctions referral

France’s gambling regulator has reminded licensed operators that anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing (AML/CFT) controls are not a paper exercise. The warning follows the ANJ’s first referral of a licensed operator to the National Sanctions Commission in 2025, and it matters for PSPs because the issues involved asset-freezing commands, transaction reporting and internal escalation.

1. The Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) issued a conditional warning to French gambling firms, saying they must make sure AML/CFT guidelines are followed and reported on. The regulator said it has had to remind licensed operators of their obligations under the regime.
2. The reminder comes after the ANJ referred a licensed gambling operator to France’s National Sanctions Commission (NSC) in 2025 for failures linked to asset-freezing commands, including inadequate internal procedures for notifying authorities about suspicious transactions.
3. The NSC upheld the breaches and imposed a €20,000 fine plus a suspended two-month operating prohibition on the operator. A former executive was fined €20,000 and hit with a suspended two-month management ban, while a senior compliance figure received a €5,000 fine and the same suspended restriction.
4. Although the Commission ordered the decision to be published anonymously, further disclosures said the party was understood to be Betsson France, which had set up in France by 2024. For anyone running payments in a licensed gambling business, the practical lesson is simple: if a customer is subject to an asset-freezing measure, you need systems that stop account opening, block betting, freeze funds immediately after the fact, and notify the Minister for the Economy without delay.
5. The ANJ said it expects AML/CFT inspections to intensify. Operators were told to review customer-screening controls, escalation procedures, staff training and reporting arrangements so asset-freezing measures can be implemented immediately, which is regulator-speak for “show me the controls, not the policy PDF.”

The ANJ’s move sits in the same general pattern as the UK Gambling Commission, which has tightened AML oversight in recent months and suspended the licences of Bet St George, BresBet and Ken Howells, while also fining QuinnBet more than £600,000 for similar failings.