High roller players in the United States may have to account for the origins of the large amounts of money they may gamble in the future if a move by the United States Treasury Department were to become law. At the moment land based casinos are required to report any suspicious actions taking place in the casinos and casinos do place major importance on security. Most large casinos have the latest technology with banks of security screens and also actual security agents monitoring all activity in their casinos and so are swift to spot suspect actions (See article: High security in the Maryland Live Casino in the United States). The suspicious activity can cover many areas including the possibility that some gamblers’ money may come from criminal activity but the legislation in place at the moment in the United States does not demand that casinos deal with suspected money laundering in the same way that banks are required to do so.The Treasury Department is thought to be responding to concerns from police services and also regulatory authorities that casinos could be used by criminals to launder the proceeds of crime. If the Treasury’s Financial Crimes Enforcement Network were to make it a legal requirement for casinos to find out the source of high rollers’ funds many in the casino industry would be opposed to the idea. At the moment this Treasury movement is just an idea as it could take a few years before agreement on a law and on how to implement this new legal requirement would take place. Any new law would most likely demand that casinos monitor certain gamblers in particular those using funds that are wired internationally or that come from very large cash deposits.
Both the Treasury Department and the American Gaming Association have declined to comment directly on moves to require casinos to gather information on the origins of large sums being gambled by certain casino clients. However, the American Gaming Association has claimed that it is taking part in discussions with different federal departments concerning compliance in casinos. In the meantime, high rollers can relax while playing without the added requirement of having to account for the provenance of their money.
