A British online gambling operator is set to pay a massive £9.4-million fine after the country’s gambling regulatory body found it had violated some social responsibility and money laundering laws.
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) reported that it has held an investigation that found money laundering and social responsibility failures which were the reason why 888 UK Limited is facing the aforementioned monetary fine. The company, which currently operates 78 online gambling platforms, has also received an official warning from the gambling watchdog and is set to undergo an extensive probe from an independent auditor.
This is not the first time 888 UK Limited has faced regulatory enforcement action. Back in 2017, the company was forced to pay a £7.8 penalty package for failures associated with vulnerable customers.
The Chief Executive Officer of the UKGC, Andrew Rhodes, shared that the circumstances of the last enforcement action against the British gambling operator may be different but both cases involve consumer-related failures, which is unacceptable. He further noted that the fine imposed on 888 UK Limited is currently one of the largest ones ever unveiled by the Gambling Commission, and should any more failures at 888 occur, the gambling regulator would have to seriously consider the sustainability of the company.
Multiple Anti-Money Laundering and Social Responsibility Failings Found During the UKGC Investigation
In its official announcement of the fine to be paid by 888 UK Limited because of its social responsibility and money laundering failings, the UKGC also reminded that the regulator remains aimed at keeping gambling safe and crime-free.
The UK Gambling Commission revealed that it found several money-laundering failures while investigating the operations of the online gambling company. 888 UK Limited was found to have implemented a policy allowing customers to deposit as much as £40,000 before carrying out so-called source-of-funds checks. One customer was allowed to spend almost £66,000 in 5 months only without any source-of-fund checks to be carried out.
The company was found to have not been effectively implementing its own policies which stated that consumers were given 10 days to provide the necessary source-of-funds proofs before their account faced restrictions. Furthermore, the online gambling operator has been accepting verbal assurances from customers rather than insisting on being handed the required SOF evidence. 888 UK Limited has also not established which documents should be requested as part of SOF checks.
As mentioned above, a number of social responsibility failures were also found during the investigation of the UK gambling industry watchdog. The British gambling operator has not effectively identified players at risk of harm because financial checks should have been carried out after depositing £40,000. The company was also found to have not taken into account the formal guidance on customer interaction of the UKGC. Furthermore, most of the predominately conducted customer interactions consisted of one email that only provided information regarding the responsible gambling tools and did not require a customer response.
The gambling regulator found no evidence that 888 UK Limited proactively restricted customer accounts that raised social responsibility concerns. The company also failed to make sure that if a customer owns several accounts, they are managed holistically and financial limits can be imposed on all of the accounts.
- Author
Olivia Cole
