British Gambling Commission fines operator £1m for AML and social responsibility failings
The regulator has also issued a warning and an order to undergo a third-party audit.
UK.- The British Gambling Commission has issued a fine of £1m against ProgressPlay Limited for a series of anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility failings. The Malta-based operator, which runs 134 websites, has also been given a warning and must undergo a third-party audit following the conclusion of a licence review of its anti-money laundering and social responsibility policies, procedures and controls.
The Gambling Commission said that anti-money laundering breaches included a failure to conduct an appropriate Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (MLTF) risk assessment and to implement appropriate controls to minimise the risk of MLTF. It said the operator also failed to consider all risks associated with its business and therefore to take a sufficiently risk-based approach to AML.
ProgressPlay also failed to sufficiently scrutinise transactions carried out during the course of customer relationships, including, where necessary, verifying the Source of Funds (SoF), to ensure those transactions were consistent with the casino’s understanding of the customer, their business activities, and their risk profile, the regulator said.
As for social responsibility failures, the regulator found that ProgressPlay did not have in place adequate systems and processes to effectively monitor customer activity at the point of account opening. This meant that early identification of any potential gambling related harm or the implementation of appropriate interventions was put at risk
Meanwhile, it used a customer interactions policy that failed to adequately address the elements of identify, act and evaluate set out in the Remote Customer Interaction section of the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice. It also failed to implement adequate processes to understand the impact of individual interactions and actions on a customer’s behaviour, the continued risk of potential harm and therefore whether and, if so, what further action was needed.
It’s the second time that ProgressPlay has faced enforcement action. In 2022 it was fined £175,718 for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures. The latest breaches identified occurred over various dates between August 2021 and August 2024.
John Pierce, director of enforcement and intelligence at the Gambling Commission, said: “Gambling businesses must have robust policies and procedures in place to protect consumers and ensure appropriate anti-money laundering controls are maintained. These measures must be actively implemented and regularly tested to confirm their effectiveness.
“This case marks the second time ProgressPlay Limited has been subject to enforcement action by the Gambling Commission. Its failure to meet AML obligations, along with the gaps identified in its social responsibility processes, are unacceptable.
“As part of the regulatory outcome, ProgressPlay is now required to undergo an independent third-party audit to assess the adequacy of its compliance arrangements across these areas.
“Operators should be in no doubt: repeated regulatory breaches will result in increasingly severe enforcement action. We urge all operators to examine the failings identified in this case and take proactive steps to strengthen their own systems and controls.”
