UKGC: Increased regular violations of licensed gambling providers

Last Thursday, the UK Gambling Commission published the compliance report. According to this, 15 licensed providers had to pay a total of £ 32.1 million in the 2020/21 financial year – the equivalent of around 37.6 million euros. This year more punishments have been issued than ever.

Published report shows numerous violations

The British gambling supervision in the published report according to the 15 licensed gambling providers due to various violations of player protection and anti-money laundering measures. In addition, licenses from 5 providers were suspended. She was even completely withdrawn from a gambling operator. The defects were uncovered by checking online gambling providers and also by land-based venues. There would have been 25 controls in the online sector and 5 in the terrestrial sector. In addition, 262 security audits were carried out and 83 websites were revised.

Anti-money laundering measures were neglected

According to the UKGC, money laundering prevention in particular left many providers to be desired. It has been determined that there are no returnable source for some of the industry-wide gambling income. According to the UKGC, this is one of the most important warning signs for any money laundering. In this context, the prescribed DUE diligence tests had been carried out by some providers. Customer review also showed defects. Many providers have only rely on reviews by third parties. The Know Your Customer – Kyc for short – would have had to be carried out by payment service providers, for example.

Further violations in the area of money laundering are, among other things, the review of the origin of Geldern only from a period of deployment in the five -digit range. Would also have Casinos Also let people play who are known to have connections to criminal organizations. It has also not been checked if customers provide information their paid money comes from previous ones. In the field of player protection, it was noticed that providers have had the customers ready to take part in the gambling before an identity examination. In a short time, players would also have paid in and lost again in a short time.

Similar defects in various providers

The fact that many companies had the same or similar defects. It is not a good conclusion for the industry and not for the gambling players. Andrew Rhodes – CEO of the UKGC – said: “As the new CEO of the Commission, I am impressed by the crowd, the law enforcement measures carried out. At the same time, it is disappointing that they were necessary at all. If we consider the law enforcement in 2020/21, we see the same two weak points in almost every case: providers fail to implement the regulations on social responsibility and money laundering prevention. ”

According to Rhodes, the rules existed for a good reason: as a guarantee of player protection and for preventing crime in Gambling. Therefore, according to the CEO, the compliance of the rules should “be a top priority for every provider”. On the one hand, he shows understanding of the difficulties that many providers would have had due to the Corona crisis. But this is not an excuse. In addition, most providers have now been allowed to open normally again or they have found alternative ways to run their business.

Rhodes also instructed the providers to adhere to the rules. The UKGC will still not tolerate violations. The warning was generally aimed at the providers. After all, the “British gambling industry is one of the most modern and most developed.” According to this, the necessary technologies, knowledge and skills are definitely available in order to behave in accordance with the rules. Player protection and anti-money laundering measures should therefore also be implemented efficiently. It remains to be seen how the situation develops further. One thing is certain: in terms of player protection, there should definitely be an improvement.