France Issues First National Sanctions Commission AML Penalty Against Licensed Gambling Operator

France’s National Gambling Authority (ANJ) announced on 21 September 2026 that the National Sanctions Commission has imposed its first anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing sanctions against a licensed gambling operator following an ANJ referral.

The case arose from an ANJ inspection that identified failures in the operator’s AML/CFT controls. ANJ referred the matter to the National Sanctions Commission in July 2025. After a hearing on 8 July 2026, the Commission confirmed the breaches and imposed financial penalties, together with a two-month suspended prohibition on conducting online gambling activity. The sanctions applied to the operator, one of its executives and its compliance officer.

Failures identified by the regulator

ANJ said its investigators found several deficiencies, including failures relating to the asset-freezing framework, the absence of required internal procedures and a failure to inform the minister responsible for the economy. ANJ subsequently sent its inspection report to the National Sanctions Commission, which opened proceedings and notified the operator of the alleged breaches.

The Commission’s 8 July decision confirmed the deficiencies identified through the ANJ inspection. ANJ’s public announcement did not identify the operator or state the amount of the financial penalties.

AML/CFT supervision of French gambling operators

ANJ acts as an AML/CFT supervisory authority for gambling operators within its remit under the French Monetary and Financial Code. Its supervisory framework includes annual review of operators’ AML/CFT action plans, individual compliance follow-up and inspections.

Earlier in 2026, ANJ said its review of gambling operators’ action plans showed generally stronger human, procedural and technical controls, while still identifying areas requiring improvement. Its priorities included better alert systems for customers exposed to corruption risk, stronger suspicious-activity reporting practices and, for exclusive-rights operators, tighter oversight of retailers.

The September announcement is significant because ANJ describes the case as the first time a referral it made to the National Sanctions Commission for AML/CFT failures has resulted in sanctions against a licensed gambling operator.

Sources

Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ), “Lutte contre le blanchiment de capitaux : une première sanction de la commission nationale des sanctions à l’encontre d’un opérateur agréé”, 21 September 2026.
Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ), “Lutte contre la fraude et le blanchiment de capitaux des opérateurs de jeux d’argent : des dispositifs robustes, des actions à mener afin d’encore les renforcer”, 10 April 2026.