Mr Green hit with SEK31.5m Swedish fine over AML and RG shortcomings

Mr Green has been fined a total of SEK31.5m (£2.6m) by the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) for anti-money laundering (AML) and duty of care breaches.

Delivering its assessment, the SGA said the firm had not been able to collect “sufficient customer knowledge” to mitigate any money-laundering risks.

The regulator issued the Malta-headquartered firm with a warning over its choice of AML interventions alongside a fine of SEK1.5m (£125,000).

“The shortcomings that have been identified regarding customer awareness measures mean that Mr Green has not worked in such a risk-based manner as is prescribed in legislation,” the SGA wrote.

“This has entailed significant risks that Mr Green may have used for money laundering and terrorist financing, which must be considered serious and to some extent systematic,” it added.

In respect of the duty of care breaches, Mr Green did not make adequate contact with customers who had a deposit limit over SEK10,000 according to the SGA, which issued a warning against the firm.

As with the AML breach, the regulator described the violations as serious and systematic, but issued Mr Green with an increased fine of SEK30m (£2.5m) on this occasion.

“When assessing the size of the penalty fee, the SGA takes into account the seriousness of the infringements, how long they have lasted, Mr Green’s turnover and the details of Mr Green’s GGR,” the SGA wrote.

“The SGA states that there have been serious breaches of the duty of care in the Gaming Act that have been going on for a long time,” it added.

SGA regulators initiated a case against the William Hill International brand in November 2019 after receiving a complaint from a customer.

The SGA said it received information regarding customer contacts for Mr Green’s top 15 depositing customers between January 2019 and June 2020.

In the case of five of those players, Mr Green reported the individuals to Sweden’s financial police due to what the SGA called “suspicions” of money laundering.

A variety of money-laundering concerns were established by the SGA in its audit of these customers, including a lack of source of wealth/funds documentation and concerns about the source of funds on a number of accounts.

Mr Green was also found to have accepted customers who were previously convicted of criminal offences and several customers with significant losses far in excess of deposits made or customer income.

The SGA also looked at duty of care measures taken by Mr Green in respect of six of the 15 customers, with five being referred for further investigation.

Those five had deposit limits set between SEK15,000 and SEK1m per day and SEK150,000 and SEK9m per month.

During the course of the investigation, the SGA established that Mr Green had conducted customer contacts with all five customers, in the form of emails or phone calls, after the firm had noticed an “escalation” in each customer’s gambling.

In the majority of the cases highlighted, the SGA has said despite these individuals displaying signs of problem gambling and gambling beyond their means, that Mr Green still allowed the gambling to continue.

Mr Green was found to have shut down four of the accounts audited.

Responding to the investigation, Mr Green confirmed that nine of the accounts had been opened under the firm’s Maltese licence in the period prior to Sweden’s regulated online market going live in January 2019.

In April 2019, the firm instigated a new AML system, which encountered “technical problems” resulting in issues with the risk classification of four customers.

Ten of the 15 customers audited by the SGA were confirmed by Mr Green as using bank transfers or payment methods which were associated with a lower risk of money laundering.

The firm also blamed human error and delays when requesting source of wealth documentation from these customers.

However, the SGA said that since Mr Green operates an automated system, where all risks are automatically flagged, technical problems and human error should not occur.

In respect of customer surveillance, Mr Green admitted its procedures had “room for improvement” and that most of the offences were from the early days of the Swedish market and could not reoccur with under current procedures and practices.

Mr Green also defended its actions in respect of duty of care, highlighting the absence of any guidance from the SGA in the “complicated task” of customer assessment, while suggesting the development of these processes would take time to perfect.

In a statement, Mr Green said it had invested significant time and resources to address the issues raised in the SGA’s investigation, which the SGA has acknowledged in its findings.

Patrick Jonker, MD of William Hill International and CEO of Mr Green, said: “Player protection has always been a priority for Mr Green. We are disappointed by the findings as we always seek to operate in full compliance with regulations.”