The Isle of Man has signalled what could be an end to licences being granted for e-gaming firms linked to East and South East Asia.

It’s a move that comes after a series of headlines over the last year about the sector being infiltrated by global crime syndicates - and as the island prepares for a visit next year by the Council of Europe anti-money laundering body MoneyVal.

A new national risk assessment says there is now ‘limited appetite’ to grant a licence for an e-gaming business where there is ownership or control from that region - and when there is an accumulation of higher risk factors that appetite has become ‘extremely limited’.

The National Statement on eGaming and Financial Crime notes: ‘Sources indicate the Isle of Man has been subject to infiltration by criminals bypassing the island’s controls against financial crime.’

It states: ‘The Isle of Man takes illicit actions by transnational organised criminals to exploit the island’s business environment and immigration regime extremely seriously.

‘As part of a robust national response, the island is setting a more restrictive risk appetite in order to continue to protect against abuse by criminals.’

The document notes the rise of operators in the ‘Golden Triangle’ of Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos, where e-gaming businesses have been used by organised crime gangs who have looked to ‘legitimise’ their operations by expanding into new regions.

Regulators will not authorise new business, and will review the terms of any existing licences, if it is outside of the national risk appetite, it states.

For new business, all Isle of Man entities ‘must consider identified risk factors and ought not enter into new relationships where there is an accumulation of higher-level risks present that cannot be mitigated’, it says.

And for existing business, the statement is considered to be a ‘trigger event’.

The risk assessment notes that companies in the island are not prohibited from engaging in higher risk activities, products or jurisdictions, but where they do have higher risk exposure, they ‘must implement enhanced measures and effectively manage the risks’.

A separate newly released report from the island’s Financial Crime Unit has identified a range of ‘red flags’ associated with the criminal exploitation of online gambling platforms.

The document presents a series of anonymised case studies - colourfully reminiscent of the character list from Quentin Tarantino’s Reservoir Dogs.

Among them is ‘Mr Red,’ a drug trafficker who conducts transactions via the dark web using cryptocurrency and created multiple accounts - using stolen identities - across 20 online gaming platforms licensed in the Isle of Man.

In another case, compliance teams at an online poker site detected a suspicious pattern of play involving ‘Mrs Green’ and ‘Mr White,’ both of whom consistently made poor or irrational betting decisions, invariably resulting in losses to a third user, ‘Mr Orange.’

Meanwhile, ‘Mr Pink’ registered with an Isle of Man-licensed gaming platform and immediately deposited £2,000 using what was later found to be a stolen debit card.

He then placed two low-stakes bets before attempting to withdraw the remaining funds the following day.