How casinos report to regulators

Why regulatory reporting is needed

Reporting is not a "paper routine," but a transparency tool: it confirms the honesty of games, the protection of customer funds, the fight against laundering and responsible play. For mature operators, reporting is built into the product: metrics and logs are collected automatically, verified, signed and safely sent to the regulator.

Requirements map: what regulators usually ask for

1) Finance and taxes

GGR/Net Gaming Revenue: bets, wins, cancellations, bonus cost, jackpot deposits; cross-sections by jurisdiction/product/currency.

Game taxes and fees: calculation at GGR/turnover rates; withholding tax reports on winnings (where applicable).

Customer funds and segregation: customer balance register vs. customer bank accounts; daily liquidity reconciliations and confirmations.

Fraud/chargebacks/returns: volumes, shares, reasons, SLA processing.

2) AML/KYC/KYT

SAR/STR (suspicious transaction reports), CTR/threshold reports for large transactions.

KYC-statuses: share of verified clients, EDD, POP/sanction matches, rejected applications.

KYT: abnormal deposit/withdrawal patterns, crypto screening (if used), sources of funds, and off-ramp policies.

3) Responsible Gaming (RG)

Harm/Intervention KPIs: proportion of players with limits, activated timeouts, self-exclusions, behavior trigger response SLAs.

Communications: number of warnings, transfers to assistance services.

Outcomes of cases: intervention results, repeated episodes.

4) Honesty of games and technical control

RNG/RTP: actual RTP by game/provider/period vs. theoretical; corridors and deviations.

Round logs: unchanging bet/win/outcome records, build hashes.

Jackpots: accumulation/payouts/funds, audit pools.

Change-management: release registry, version control, artifact signatures.

5) Marketing and Affiliates

Bonus T & Cs: Changes, wager coast, average actual wager.

Promotional materials: pre-approval and real creatives, target logic 18 +/21 +.

Affiliates: list of partners, UTM/trackers, complaints and sanctions against partners.

6) Information security and privacy

Information security incidents/leaks: detection time, classification, notifications of subjects/regulators, correspondent actions.

Accesses and admin actions: RBAC/MFA revisions, critical operation logs.

Pentests/scans: plan-fact, vulnerabilities found and closures.

7) Support and controversy

Support SLA: first response/resolution time.

ADR/Ombudsman: number of cases and outcomes.

Complaints about payments/bonuses: categories, share of justified.

Dates: typical calendar

Daily (D): rate/pay telemetry, customer funds, incident logs, self-exclusion block list.

Weekly (W): RTP reconciliation, report on RG triggers, KYT triggers.

Monthly (M): GGR/taxes, reconciliation of bank balances, support KPIs, marketing and affiliates.

Quarterly (Q): audit change-management, pentest/scans, report on information security/privacy incidents.

Annually (Y): independent audit of finance/information security (ISO/SOC, if any), recertification of RNG/games, personnel training (RG/AML/information security).

💡 Actual timing and content varies by jurisdiction; part of the markets require "online monitoring" in real time.

Transmission formats: exactly how they send

API/streams to central hubs (JSON/NDJSON, protected TLS + mTLS/signatures).

SFTP/CSV with integrity control (SHA-256) and schemas: field dictionaries, units of measurement, timezones.

XBRL/regulator portals for finance.

Docks (PDF/signed reports) for incidents, penetration tests, change-review.

Reporting data architecture (high-level)

1. Collection: events of game rounds, payments, authorizations, marketing → in the "raw" data lake (WORM-compatible storage).

2. Cleaning and normalization: unified reference books (game, provider, jurisdiction, currency), deduplication, time zone reduction.

3. Buch-rules: calculation of GGR/net, bonus-costa, shares of providers, tax bases.

4. Data quality (DQ): completeness, validity, uniqueness, timeliness; alerts and automatic backfill.

5. Signature and issue: control of two pairs of eyes (4-eyes), electronic signature, issue log.

6. Delivery: queues/batches, retrays with idempotency, confirmation of admission.

Mini field dictionary (fragment):

'round _ id '(UUID, unique, idempotent)
`game_code` / `game_version_hash`
'bet _ amount '/' win _ amount '(decimal + currency)
`bonus_cost_amount` / `bonus_type`
`player_status` (KYC: pending/verified/EDD)
`jurisdiction_code` / `license_id`
`rtp_theoretical` / `rtp_actual_period`
`self_excluded` (bool, timestamp)

Reconciliation

Operational reconciliation: amount of bets/winnings on game logs = amounts from billing/platform.

Bank reconciliation: customer platform balances = segregated account balances.

Provider reconciliation: reports of content providers vs. platform (by game/day/operator).

RTP monitoring: actual RTP within the corridor; deviations → investigation ticket.

DQ rules: zero/negative amounts, duplicate 'round _ id', missing hour windows → block list before correction.

Typical cases of immediate notification of the regulator

Serious information security incidents (PII/payment data leak).

RTP/jackpot anomalies affecting the calculation of winnings.

Massive payment delays (SLA violation).

Significant AML actuations and interlocks.

Math/engine changes without prior recertification.

Common mistakes and how to avoid them

"Paper compliance." There are policies, there are no metrics in the product → embed RG/AML in UX and logs.

Inconsistent definition records. Different GGR for the financial team and BI → a single glossary and calculation layer.

No WORM storage. Logs can be rewritten → unchangeable storage/retention policies can be enabled.

Releases without change-gate. Game updates without hash fixation/certification → release matrix and freeze periods.

DQ debt. Manual Excel summaries → automation, schema tests, data quality alerts.

Time gap. Inconsistent timezones → store UTC, display locally.

Remediation plan (if discrepancies are found)

1. Root cause (tech/processes/people/data) → post-mortem.

2. Corrective Actions: who/what/when; MAJOR → MINOR priority.

3. Patches and backfills: recalculation of metrics, resubmission; change log.

4. Prevention: circuit tests, canary unloading, release checklists.

5. Communications: notification of the regulator/partners, evidence of corrections.

Roles and Responsibilities (RACI)

Compliance (A/R): interpretation of requirements, calendar, contact with the regulator.

Finance (R): GGR/taxes, reconciliations, customer funds.

Data/BI (R): data models, DQ, storefronts, uploads.

Engineering (R): logs, API, delivery security.

InfoSec/Privacy (R): IR/BCP, pentests, notifications.

Operations/Support (C/I): SLA, complaints, ADR.

Legal (C): interpretations of laws, T&C changes

Executive (A/I): approval of risks and resources.

Check sheets

Before monthly reporting

Reconciled GGR/customer funds/bank balances.
RTP report without exits beyond the corridors; investigations are closed.
DQ-board "green" (completeness/validity/timing).
Files signed (hashes/electronic signature), issue log updated.
Game/version changes have passed change-gate and, if necessary, recertification.
AML/KYC/KYT and RG reports are prepared and agreed.

To launch a new market

Requirements mapping (what we pass: D/W/M/Q/Y, formats).
Data dictionary agreed with regulator/providers.
Delivery channel (API/SFTP/portal) tested with test cases.
SLA/retray/idempotency tested; "canary" passed.
Incident plan (who/how notifies) worked out.

Brief FAQ

Do I need to store "raw" logs if there are units?

Yes I did. Regulators often require spot checks and retro audits - this is impossible without raw materials.

Is real-time monitoring mandatory?

In a number of markets, yes. Prepare betting/payout streaming and heartbeat events.

Who is responsible for the correctness of the RTP showcase - provider or operator?

Both: the provider gives certified mathematics, the operator controls the display and post-monitoring.

Strong reporting is a system: uniform definitions and models, unchangeable logs, automatic reconciliations, strict release discipline and transparent delivery channels. This architecture reduces regulatory risks, speeds up approvals, increases the confidence of banks and providers - and directly affects the economy: less downtime, less fines, more trust of players.