UKGC Hits bet365 with £582k Fine over AML, Social Responsibility Breaches

Bet365 is to pay £582,120 for anti-money laundering and social responsibility failures at its online business.

Hillside (UK Gaming) ENC, which holds a licence for Bet365’s bingo and casino products, will pay £343,035 and Hillside (UK Sports) ENC, which holds a licence to offer betting, will pay £239,085.

All £582,120 will be directed towards socially responsible causes as part of a regulatory settlement with the Commission.

The failings were discovered during a Commission compliance assessment in March 2022.

Social responsibility failures included:

• interactions with customers were frequently not tailored to the specific customer journey or spectrum of harm and therefore interactions were not meaningful
• an Early Risk Detection System was not demonstrably effective in understanding the impact of individual interactions on a customer’s behaviour and whether further action was required
• its approach to evaluation meant that it was unable to effectively ascertain whether a customer had read and understood the information or advice provided within its interactions.

Anti-money laundering failures included:

• having enhanced 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 over relied on customers’ annual self-verification of know your customer information, such as identification documents
• its procedure document contained inadequate detail as to who would be deemed “at risk” and “not at risk” for customer risk profiling.

Kay Roberts, Executive Director of Operations at UKGC, said: “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.

“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.”