Albania FIU flags gambling risks from unlicensed platforms and virtual assets

Albania’s Financial Intelligence Agency (FIU) summarised the Financial Action Task Force’s 2026 report on money laundering, terrorist financing and proliferation financing risks in gaming and gambling. The FIU said the digitalisation and expansion of online gaming and betting had created new economic activity but also increased the sector’s exposure to illicit finance.

The notice summarises FATF’s findings on the sector’s risks. For operators and other firms serving the sector, the practical message is to assess risks across licensing, customer payments, third parties and virtual-asset exposure, and to ensure controls can identify and report suspicious transactions. The FIU also highlights cooperation between competent authorities and the private sector, including timely domestic and international information exchange.

FATF’s risk factors

FATF’s report considers technological developments, the growth of online services and the increasingly cross-border nature of gambling. The FIU identifies four particular exposure points:

- unlicensed platforms;
- cross-border transactions;
- third-party accounts; and
- e-wallets and virtual assets.

These channels may conceal the origin of funds, make transactions harder to trace and obscure the actual beneficiaries of illicit activity, according to the FIU.

The authority says a risk-based approach remains central, alongside stronger licensing and supervisory mechanisms and better processes for identifying and reporting suspicious transactions. It says that timely identification and assessment of risks remain essential as technology and methods of misuse become more complex.