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UKGC Smacks Buzz Bingo Operator With a $1 Million Fine
By Jeff Osienya Dec 17, 2021 LegalityBuzz Bingo, a renowned Bingo operator, has received a $1 million fine from the UK Gambling Commission following anti-money laundering and social responsibility failings. Here’s a look into precisely what led to the hefty penalty from the gaming regulator.On Thursday, the United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) announced that it took regulatory against Buzz Group Ltd, the operator of the Buzz Bingo (buzzbingo.com) brand. The bingo operator was slapped with a £780k ($1.04 million) fine after investigations conducted by the UK gaming regulator uncovered anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility failures.
According to a press statement issued by the UK Gambling Commission, a series of regulatory misconducts occurred between October 2019 and December 2020 at Buzz Bingo. The failures were discovered when the gaming watchdog was carrying out routine “compliance activity.” On top of the fine, the UKGC also issued a formal warning against Buzz Group Ltd.
Commenting on the regulatory action against the buzzbingo.com operator, UKGC Executive Director Helen Venn pointed out that:
Quote“As a regulator, we expect all operators to effectively implement policies and procedures which make gambling safe and crime-free. Every single gambling business should be aware that we do check that these are in place and are being adhered to. If they are not, we will take action.”
Following the regulatory action, Dominic Mansour, the Chief Operating Officer of Digital at Buzz Bingo, shared a few words saying:
Quote“One of Buzz Bingo’s core values has always been to put players first and protect those that are vulnerable. Buzz Bingo is fully committed to ensuring it meets the highest standards of compliance across its digital platform buzzbingo.com, including its anti-money laundering and social responsibility obligations.”
AML and Social Responsibility Offences Committed by Buzz Bingo
Details of the investigation revealed by the UKGC indicated that Buzz Bingo violated AML regulations by relying too much on “open source or anecdotal information” when handling source of funds (SOF) checks. For instance, based on the report released by the UK regulator, the Buzz Bingo support team took verbal assurances as SOF evidence during interactions with players.
Further, the UK Gambling Commission disclosed that the operator under fire had received several alerts before eventually suspending a customer’s account because of AML suspicions. The gaming ombudsman went on to cite a case where a player raised nine AML alerts before the operator finally took any action. Additionally, UKGC’s investigation team also discovered that Buzz Bingo did not keep appropriate records regarding the AML interactions it had with its players.
As for social responsibility shortcomings, the watchdog said that Buzz Bingo had set its financial triggers too high, making the system incapable of identifying at-risk players. One of the instances that the UKGC gave per its investigation is that a suer loaded £22,400 (~$30k) in their account in just 5 days. All the while, the customer in question never received any intervention from the operator.
Still, on social responsibility, the UK Gambling Commission added that Buzz Bingo failed to sufficiently interact with players who “gambled aggressively” over a short period. Here, the watchdog cited an example of a user who ended up depositing and losing £12,400 (~$16,500) in just 6 days. For the said period, the Buzz Bingo support team only interacted with the player by pointing out that the player was “coping well in COVID-19)
Finally, the UK gaming regulatory body also added that Buzz Bingo staffers did not adequately interact with players to ask whether they were in control of their gaming. Likewise, in its investigation, the UKGC also found that the operator’s staff did not sufficiently discuss responsible gambling tools with players when they needed to.
Buzz Bingo Reiterates its Commitment to AML and Social Responsibility
All said and done; the Commission disclosed that Buzz Bingo was fully cooperative with the ombudsman during the investigation into the regulatory misdeed. Moreover, since the penalty was issued, the bingo operator has taken corrective measures to address the shortcomings that the UKGC identified.
Regarding the fine, the CFO of Digital at Buzz Bingo added that it was imposed because of “legacy issues.” Nevertheless, he also said that the company has already taken appropriate action to handle the issues accordingly, as follows:
Quote“The fine from the Gambling Commission relates to legacy issues that have now been addressed. Buzz Bingo has reviewed and overhauled all its compliance measures and is confident that current policies and processes now meet the standards set. Moreover, Buzz Bingo has increased its current and ongoing investment to enhance all its risk and compliance processes to continually improve player protection.”
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