UK-based online gaming giant bet365 will pay a £582,120 (US$735,150) fine for anti-money laundering and social responsibility failures, Britain’s Gambling Commission has announced.
The finding, which will see Bet365’s bingo and casino products license holder Hillside (UK Gaming) ENC pay £343,035 and betting license holder Hillside (UK Sports) ENC pay £239,085, comes with Australia’s AML watchdog AUSTRAC having only last month launched an investigation of its own into the local arm of bet365 to determine whether the online betting giant has complied with its obligations under the Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act.
The findings of that inquiry are yet to be finalized.
In revealing the size of its fine, the Gambling Commission said it found multiple AML failures including customer due diligence and know your customer triggers that were ineffective at managing money laundering risk; failing to undertake financial sanctions checks on new customers prior to their first deposits; failing to undertake independent verification checks and overreliance on customers’ annual self-verification; and inadequate detail in its procedure document as to who would be deemed “at risk” and “not at risk” for customer risk profiling.
Social responsibility failures included interactions with customers that were frequently not tailored to the specific customer journey or spectrum of harm, meaning interactions were not meaningful; the lack of an Early Risk Detection System that was demonstrably effective in understanding the impact of individual interactions on a customer’s behaviour and whether further action was required; and an evaluation method that was unable to effectively ascertain whether a customer had read and understood the information or advice provided within its interactions.
“The policy and procedural failings may not have been as severe as those at other gambling businesses in recent years but they were failings nonetheless,” said Kay Roberts, the Gambling Commission’s Executive Director of Operations.
“We expect high standards from operators in terms of keeping gambling safe, fair and crime-free, and will always take action to correct any failings. This operator is very aware that a repeat of these failings will result is escalating regulatory action.”
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