KSA warns BetEnt and Play North over AML failings
Dutch regulator says operators failed to monitor player behaviour as major customer losses were not followed up
The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has revealed that it issued a warning notice to Play North and BetEnt for failing to adhere to the Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (Prevention) Act (Wwft).
The KSA said two notices were served in November 2022 after research showed that the two operators did not undertake sufficient checks on its players’ behaviour and financial background checks.
The Dutch regulator found in its investigation of Play North that 11 out of 14 customer investigations were “insufficient” and that the firm was unable to monitor players and their transactions.
Research found that one player was able to deposit €25,000 (£21,525) in one hour and proceeded to lose around €20,000 in two months without an investigation being launched.
Elsewhere, one player lost more than €12,000 in little more than a week before an investigation was started while another player lost around €20,000 in one day.
In similar circumstances with BetEnt, the KSA looked at 17 customers who bet with the operator and found that engagement with 12 of them was insufficient.
Research showed that investigations failed to take place despite one customer losing more than €110,000 in one month and another losing almost €55,000 in the same time period.
The KSA said the findings were made public to discourage other operators from breaching existing regulations, having previously withheld the details of these investigations.
Objections to the decision were made in both cases, only for the KSA to reject them.
BetEnt explained that the KSA’s anti-money laundering rules are different to other countries and did not provide specific explanations, adding that the company was not told that its procedures were “insufficient” when they outlined in its licence application.
Play North offered its own explanations to the Dutch regulator, including a miscommunication between the two parties and that the “Wwft and the guidelines do not define what ‘spending a large amount of money’ means”.
It added: “The risk should be determined based on various aspects of the customer’s behaviour, including the amount lost by the customer, but also the geographical risk, the transaction behaviour (such as the pattern of deposits and withdrawals) and the game played.”
The operator argued it was not “uncommon” for players with similar deposits to have different levels of risk.
The announcement comes days after the KSA called for quicker intervention by operators for players who show signs of potential gambling addiction.