British Gambling Commission fines Genesis Global £3.8m
Genesis Global Limited was suspended from operating in Britain after investigations indicated significant social responsibility and money laundering failures.
UK.- The British Gambling Commission has imposed a £3.8m fine on Genesis Global Limited and warned the UK’s gambling industry it “will use all tools at its disposal to ensure consumer safety.” Genesis Global, which operates 14 websites, including genesiscasino.com, casinoplanet.com and Casinocruise.com, also received a warning from the commission and was told it must undergo a further extensive audit.
The company was suspended from operating in Britain after investigations revealed significant social responsibility and money laundering failures. The suspension has since been lifted due to significant improvements in compliance, but the commission’s investigation decided to impose a £3.8m fine and additional licensing conditions requiring further audits.
Gambling Commission executive director Helen Venn said: “All gambling businesses should pay very close attention to this case. The Commission will use all tools at its disposal to ensure consumer safety and that extends to stopping a business from actually operating.”
Social responsibility failures included not having meaningful responsible gambling interactions with a customer who spent £245,000 over a three-month period. Two other such clients were found to have spent £197,000 over six months and £234,000 over six weeks respectively.
The operator was found to have made a source of funds request only after one client lost £209,000. Prior to this, Genesis had estimated the client was earning £111,000 a year because the consumer had notified them he was a director and this was the average salary of directors in London.
Another client was allowed to deposit more than £1,300,000 and lost nearly half of his money before an adequate funding source check could be carried out.
APBGG investigation blasts “rogue” Gambling Commission
A cross-party group of MPs has severely criticised the Gambling Commission in a new report on the British regulator.
In its ‘Investigation into the Competence and Effectiveness of the Gambling Commission’, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Betting and Gaming (APBGG) describes an “under-performing regulator” that went “rogue” and took an ideological stance against the betting industry.
It said that instead of dedicating its resources to the oversight of gaming operators as it should, the Gambling Commission began “acting ultra vires” in ideological “war” against the industry.
The report also questions the Gambling Commission’s competence, highlighting reports “written in ambiguous terms with scant evidence”. It also says the regulator has not participated in industry engagement or AML forums and has delivered a constantly negative commentary on the industry.
