自從美國最高法院撤銷全國性體育博彩禁令以來，已經有許多州競相將此事合法化。目前已有六個州全面放開體育博彩。另外20多個州以及哥倫比亞特區也在推進之中。

但我們需要謹慎一點兒。博彩合法化可能讓數十億美元新資金流入體育市場，除大多數合法資金外，也會有一些來源不明的資金，它們有可能是犯罪所得。

洗錢者通過體育事業漂白非法所得的做法由來已久。合法體育博彩可能成為他們洗錢的又一途徑。因此，政府必須全面加強監督，從逃稅到假賽都是如此。體育組織應該更為透明，并更嚴格地實施內部控制。金融機構則應該把發現可疑行為作為更重要的任務。

每年的洗錢數額都會達到8000億至2萬億美元，相當于全球GDP的2%到5%。

體育產業特別容易涉及洗錢，主要是因為它的資金來源非常多，有門票收入、特許權收入，有賽事商品，還有轉播費、服裝授權費和廣告主給的贊助。

整體而言，歐洲足球市場2016-17賽季實現收入289億美元。北美體育市場2017年的收入為690億美元。在如此巨大的市場中，寬松的監管很容易讓可疑的金融活動從人們的眼皮子底下溜走。

回想一下最近的幾件丑聞就明白了。巴西和南美足協前負責人都因為在簽訂傳媒和營銷合同時受賄而被判入獄。聯邦檢察官目前正在調查一宗涉及比利時多家頂尖足球俱樂部的洗錢大案。

不難想象，犯罪組織或者不那么道德的公司會在博彩的掩護下，把錢塞到狡猾的美國裁判、運動員或者體育官員手中。

隨著合法博彩的普及，在體育生態系統中偵測不法資金流動可能會變得越發困難。今后五年內，體育博彩有望成為一個規模達60億美元的行業。在這個數十億美元的資金池中，犯罪分子也許很容易就能讓幾百萬非法所得銷聲匿跡。

為維護比賽的公正性，體育監管部門、賽事組織機構以及體育俱樂部必須各盡其職，以便阻止洗錢行為。首先，它們必須嚴格禁止洗錢，并確保所有成員都充分理解這項政策。為此，它們的領導層、工作人員以及利益相關者應該定期召開會議，目的是探討該政策并發布已經進行了培訓的書面確認函。

體育組織還必須完善自己的財務部門。應該要求它們定期提供詳細而且經過獨立驗證和審計的財務報表。它們還得保存所有金融交易的完整記錄。在和供應商、承包商等第三方合作時，體育組織應該盡其所能來確認第三方的資金來源。如果懷疑第三方通過不法手段獲得資金，它們就應該向監管部門報告。

金融機構也要發揮作用。它們每年都會處理數十億美元“洗過”的錢。許多金融機構都建立了阻止犯罪行為的機制。比如說，加拿大的銀行必須遵循嚴格的客戶身份識別標準，并保存非常多的交易記錄。如果某家銀行相信某個賬戶被用于犯罪，它就要向相關部門報告并凍結這個賬戶。

不過，洗錢行為只會變得越來越復雜，銀行的工作也將越發繁重。好在新的人工智能和可視化技術可以幫銀行發現反常行為并找到不同的賬戶、公司以及地點之間的聯系。舉例來說，賓夕法尼亞州一家公司開發的人工智能技術就幫助美國禁毒署抓住了一名洗錢要犯。

與專門偵測金融犯罪的組織合作同樣有效。以英國跨國安全公司BAE Systems為例，借助先進的監視工具，它在過去10年中已經幫助全世界數百家金融機構對可疑行為進行偵測。

此外，立法者可以在幫助職業體育聯盟反腐方面做更多的工作。比如說，美國職業籃球聯賽（NBA）和美國職業棒球大聯盟（MLB）都已要求州立法機構實施“公正費”制度，即規定博彩公司將總投注額的1%交給職業體育聯盟，后者再用這筆錢來監督可能出現的欺詐行為。此外，立法者還可以讓職業體育聯盟直接接觸到博彩公司的數據，這樣職業體育聯盟就可以進行檢驗，從而有可能發現可疑行為。

可惜的是，洗錢者已經發現體育市場是一條便捷的洗錢渠道。對他們來說，體育博彩合法化可能會讓體育行業變得更有吸引力。體育和金融機構必須予以反擊，把這些犯罪分子拒之門外。（財富中文網）

里克·麥克唐奈曾在多個政府部門共同組建的金融行動特別工作組（Financial Action Task Force）中擔任執行秘書，現為公認反洗錢師協會（ACAMS）執行董事。

譯者：Charlie

審校：夏林

Since the U.S. Supreme Court overturned a national ban on sports gambling, many states have rushed forward to legalize the practice. Full-scale sports gambling is now permitted in six states. More than 20 other states and the District of Columbia are on their way.

But a degree of caution is in order. Legalized gambling is likely to attract billions of additional dollars into the sports market. Most will be legitimate. But some will be of unknown, perhaps criminal, provenance.

Money launderers have long run illicit cash through sports interests. Legalized sports betting could provide them another avenue for doing so. Consequently, authorities will have to step up their monitoring efforts for everything from tax evasion to match fixing. Sports entities will have to be more transparent and adhere to stricter internal controls. And financial institutions will have to make spotting suspicious activity a bigger priority.

Between $800 billion and $2 trillion is laundered every year. That’s equivalent to 2-5% of global GDP.

The sports industry is particularly vulnerable to laundering schemes, largely because it takes in money from so many different sources. There are the proceeds from ticket sales, concessions, and merchandise at games. There are broadcasting rights fees, clothing licensing fees, and sponsorship fees from advertisers.

All told, the European football, or soccer, market generated $28.9 billion in revenue during the 2016-17 season. The North American sports market brought in $69 billion in 2017. In such large markets, loose regulations make it easy for questionable financial activities to fly under the radar.

Consider just a few recent scandals. The former heads of Brazil’s and South America’s football associations have been sentenced to jail after accepting bribes in exchange for media and marketing contracts. And federal prosecutors are currently investigating a massive money laundering scheme involving Belgium’s largest football clubs.

It’s not hard to imagine criminal interests or less-than-ethical companies funneling money to crooked referees, athletes, or sports officials here in the U.S. under the guise of gambling.

As legalized gambling proliferates, detecting untoward funding within the sports ecosystem could grow more difficult. Within the next five years, sports gambling could become a $6 billion industry. Criminals could easily make a few million in ill-gotten money disappear within that multibillion-dollar pool.

To defend the integrity of their games, sports governing bodies, competition organizers, and clubs must do their part to stop money laundering. For starters, organizations must strictly prohibit money laundering and ensure all members have a comprehensive understanding of the policy. To do so, they should have regular meetings for leadership, staff, and stakeholders to go over the policy and issue written confirmation that the training occurred.

Sporting organizations must also improve their financial operations. They should be required to provide regular, detailed financial statements that are independently verified and audited. And they must maintain thorough records of all financial transactions. When working with third parties—like suppliers and contractors—organizations should do everything possible to identify the sources of these third parties’ funding. If an organization suspects that a third party has acquired funds through illegal means, they should report them to authorities.

Financial institutions also have a part to play. They handle billions of dollars in laundered funds every year. Many have initiatives in place to stop criminal activity. For example, banks in Canada must follow strict client identification standards and keep copious records of transactions. If a bank believes an account is being used for criminal activity, it reports this to the relevant authorities and shuts down the account.

But money laundering schemes are only growing more complex, and banks’ workloads are increasing. Thankfully, new artificial intelligence and visualization technology can enable them to identify unusual activity and uncover connections between different accounts, companies, and locations. For example, A.I. technology developed by a firm in Pennsylvania helped catch one of the Drug Enforcement Agency’s largest money laundering targets.

Teaming up with organizations that specialize in detecting financial crime can work too. For example, BAE Systems, a British multinational security company, has helped hundreds of financial institutions worldwide use advanced monitoring tools to detect questionable activity over the past decade.

Additionally, lawmakers can do more to help sports leagues fight corruption. For instance, the NBA and MLB have asked state legislators to implement “integrity fees.” These require betting operators to give leagues 1% of the total amount bet on games, which the leagues then use to monitor for potential fraud. On top of that, lawmakers could give sports leagues direct access to betting operator data so they can examine it and potentially identify suspicious activity.

Money launderers have unfortunately found the sports market a convenient target for their schemes. Legalized gambling could make the sector even more inviting. Sports and financial institutions must fight back—and keep these criminals at bay.

Rick McDonell is the former executive secretary of the Financial Action Task Force, an intergovernmental body, and the current executive director of the Association of Certified Anti-Money Laundering Specialists (ACAMS).