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UKGC Cracks the Whip on BGO, GAN & NetBet for Regulatory Failings
By Jeff Osienya Oct 29, 2020 IndustryUK’s gambling regulator has released a fresh report citing stern action taken against BGO, GAN, and NetBet for not doing enough to adhere to social responsibility and anti-money laundering regulations. The operators will also pay a combined fine of £2.9m.The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) has taken action on three UK-facing online gaming brands; GAN PLC, BGO Entertainment Limited, and NetBet Enterprises Limited, after they were found to have missed the mark in their compliance to regulatory standards. The three gaming operators were investigated by the Commission as part of its ongoing mission to uphold higher industry standards by coming down heavily on regulatory misconduct.
Owing to their failures which included insufficient social responsibility (SR) practices to keep their patrons safe and inadequate procedures to abide by anti-money laundering (AML) and countering the financing of terrorism (CFT) policies, the operators all underwent license reviews.
Consequently, the UK gaming ombudsman has imposed additional conditions per SR and AML policies on the licenses of two of the operators, GAN PLC and BGO. On top of that, all three online gambling companies will have to revamp their policies and procedures and they will also make payments to the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms (NSRGH) – a three-year strategy that was introduced by the British watchdog last year to tackle gambling harms. For all three cases, the UK regulator will also review the actions of the individual holders of a Personal Management License in the gaming companies.
What Did the Offenders Do to Face UKGC’s Wrath?
From the investigations that were carried out by the UK Gambling Commission, here’s a highlight of the failures that led to the actions that were taken against the three operators in question;
- GAN PLC
GAN was charged for the offenses committed Winstar Casino, a platform that the operator ran in the stead of Oklahoma’s Chickasaw Nation until late last year. GAN was thus guilty of failing to abide by four license conditions that touch on social responsibility and AML for UK license holders between August 2018 and September 2019.
Part of GAN PLC’s failures were not having effective AML measures, and failing to display warnings that gambling for users under 18 years old is against the law. The company was also under fire for a poor user interaction guide for safer gambling by displaying animated imagery for the promotion of a casino product, against the code of conduct that prohibits the use of imagery that may be appealing to youngsters.
In addition to the aforementioned consequences, GAN will be required to offer more training to its senior staff and the holders of a Personal Management License, and will also pay £146,754 to the NSRGH and an additional £6,000 to compensate for the costs of the review
- BGO Entertainment Limited
As for BGO, the company did not have adequate measures on board to protect the patrons who may have displayed signs of compulsive gambling between the 25th of September 2018 and 23rd March this year. Moreover, BGO failed to set up suitable AML controls for the period starting 25th September 2018 to 21st July 2020.
In one instance, BGO allowed a player to load more than £100,000 to their account and the customer later lost over £65,000 of the funds even though the customer’s salary was under £20,000. On another occasion, BGO did not intervene when a player deposited over £106,000 in less than three weeks, including £6,500 worth of deposits in 13 intervals within 1 hour. After the incident, the online casino operator chose to send the customer an email rather than speak to the player directly.
Part of BGO’s penance as ruled by the UKGC is paying £2 million to the NSRGH, on top of the already discussed conditions on its license, plus £31,000 more to reimburse the regulator for the costs of the review.
- NetBet Enterprises Limited
UKGC’s investigation also disclosed that NetBet did not comply with two license conditions under AML and SR regulations between the 20th of November 2010 and 29th May last year. The online gaming operator has been punished for not doing enough due diligence on bankroll documentations that were submitted by patrons, and it also failed to implement its responsible gambling policy as effectively as regulatory policies require.
To make amends for the offenses, NetBet has been instructed to introduce changes to its processes and procedures such as paying more attention to customer log-in times during its responsible gambling customer evaluations. The online gaming operator will also be required to place automatic limits on patrons that display early signs of compulsive gambling and also offer customers access to an affordability calculator. NetBet will also part with £748,000 payable to the NSRGH and another £9,000 to cover the costs of the commission’s review.
Following the announcement of the measures taken against GAN, NetBet, and BGO, Richard Watson, the watchdog’s executive director released a statement to express UKGC’s unwavering stand against uncompliant licensees;
Quote“Licensees must protect consumers from harm and treat them fairly. Our recent investigations uncovered a variety of consumer protection and anti-money laundering failings at each of these three operators and as a result we are using a range of enforcement tools against them. We will continue to crack down on failing operators through our tough and proactive compliance and enforcement work.”
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