Ireland has launched its first national anti-money-laundering strategy, with new measures aimed at gambling firms, cryptocurrency transfers and hidden company ownership. The plan is meant to make it harder for criminals and terrorist financiers to move money anonymously through the financial system.
Tánaiste and Minister for Finance Simon Harris launched the strategy on Thursday. The Department of Finance described it as the most significant strengthening of Ireland’s anti-money-laundering framework in years and said it was designed to give the State a whole-of-government response to financial crime.
The sharpest changes are in gambling. Casino clubs operating machine-based gambling will face a more robust regulatory framework, together with stricter enforcement of their licence conditions and anti-money-laundering obligations. Gambling service providers will also be told to adopt a closed-loop payment system, so the same payment account is used for deposits and for payments back to customers.
The strategy also sets a new standard for accepting cryptocurrency-related funds in gambling. That standard is intended to ensure due diligence is carried out and the legitimacy of funds is verified. Separately, the strategy extends anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorist-financing obligations to crypto-asset transfers, requiring information on the originator and beneficiary to accompany transfers under the EU’s Travel Rule.
According to the Department of Finance, most of that crypto-transfer regime is already in place, including final elements that add new obligations for crypto-asset service providers. Those include enhanced checks on transfers involving private crypto wallets and tighter due diligence when dealing with overseas crypto firms.
Ownership transparency is another pillar of the plan. The department intends to require mandatory disclosure of the ultimate beneficial owners and controllers of all limited partnerships, and the strategy also seeks greater transparency around company ownership more generally. The Government says that should make it harder for criminals to hide behind complex corporate structures.
The strategy goes beyond gambling and crypto. The Central Bank of Ireland will be asked to develop a systematic understanding of how emerging technologies, including artificial intelligence, create vulnerabilities or improve the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing. The Government also plans to deepen intelligence-sharing between departments, gardaí, Revenue, the Criminal Assets Bureau, FIU Ireland, the central bank and financial institutions.
The move comes after the 2026 National Risk Assessment judged the money-laundering threat in the Republic to be moderate and said criminal networks were combining cash-based methods with digital tools such as crypto assets and money-mule networks. It also follows earlier signs of strain in enforcement and compliance, including reporting in May that money-laundering cases were coming to gardaí in large numbers and a PwC Ireland survey that found only 43% of Irish respondents were fully prepared for incoming European AML rules. As RTÉ reported, the new strategy builds on plans announced earlier this year.
