Five casino firms hit with UKGC action over social responsibility and AML breaches
Land-based operators to pay settlements totalling more than £1m following investigation
The Gambling Commission (UKGC) has hit five UK-licensed land-based casino operators with regulatory action totalling more than £1m for breaches in their respective AML and social responsibility standards.
Sheffield-headquartered A&S Leisure Group, which operates the Napoleon Casino chain, was issued with a warning by the regulator and ordered to pay a fine of £377,340, while fellow operators Clockfair Limited and Shaftesbury Casino Limited both agreed to pay regulatory settlements worth £260,000.
Double Diamond Gaming will pay settlement costs of £247,000, while Cardiff-based operator Les Croupiers Casino Limited will fork out a regulatory settlement of £202,500.
The UKGC instigated compliance-led reviews into each of the operators in 2019 following concerns identified as part of its regular round of compliance assessments.
In all cases, failings were identified in the way the operators identified and managed customers who were at a higher risk of gambling-related harm and who presented a higher risk of money laundering as so-called VIP players.
The UKGC also discovered a failure to conduct social responsibility interactions relating to the ongoing assessment of customers and interactions where gambling-related harm was identified.
Addressing the regulatory penalties, UKGC executive director Richard Watson said: “These failings were identified as part of our ongoing drive to raise standards across the whole gambling industry.
“Every single operator must ensure they are following rules that are in place to make gambling safer and prevent it being a source of crime,” Watson added.
In March, the UKGC revealed further details of its high-profile investigation into land-based giant Caesars Entertainment over its own treatment of VIP players. Formal warnings were issued to several of the casino giant’s personal management licence (PML) holders.
Caesars was fined £13m by the UKGC over the breaches, the largest fine ever levied against a land-based casino operator in the UK.