Highest Gambling-Related Penalty Packages Paid In UK

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has recently released an Enforcement Report for 2018/19. As part of the report, the Commission stated that casino operators failed to adhere to certain policies, which resulted in a more stringent reaction from UK Commission.

According to the Raising Standards for the Consumers Enforcement Report, gambling operators should improve support to casino customers and provide more attention to money laundering.

Details

UKGC has performed about 160 investigations in the last twelve months. As a result, the regulatory body issued several sanctions against gambling companies. Nine operators paid a total amount of £19.6m in penalty packages as they missed to follow Commission rules. One of the sanctioned providers was ex Paddy Power Betfair (Flutter Entertainment). The total of £13m was directed to Treasury while £6.7m went for the protection of consumers.

Past Year

The UK Commission Report further demonstrated the last year data. As mentioned, the total amount of fine has increased from £18.4 in 2017/18 to £19.6m in 2018/19. Only a year before, in season 2016/17, the figure stood at £1.7m in paid fines. Further on, the highest fine in 2017/18 has been paid by Daub Alderney casino for both money laundering and problem gambling.

Reaction

Commenting on the situation, Chief Executive at UK Gambling Commission Neil McArthur said:

"We will be tough when we find operators bending the rules or failing to meet our expectations, but we also want to try and minimize the need for such action by providing advice, a program of support material and compliance activity to help operators get things right in the first place. I want gambling consumers in Britain to be able to enjoy the fairest and safest gambling in the world and I want gambling operators to work with us to put customer enjoyment and safety at the top of their corporate agenda."

Current Situation

Gambling operators are bounded by strict regulation in the UK following the introduction of the Gambling Act in 2014. According to the Act, all operators which offer gambling services to customers should have a license from the UK no matter of their headquarters.

As a reminder, United Kingdom has just recorded the success in the regulation of maximum stake on fixed-odds terminals (slot machine) from £100 to £2. Last December, major betting companies in UK such William Hill and GVC agreed on advertising ban on live sport „whistle-to-whistle“.

Source:

“UK Gambling firms pay record USD 25M in penalty packages“, yogonet.com, June 27, 2019.