British Gambling Commission issues fine against Gamesys

Gamesys will pay a £6m penalty.

UK.- The Gambling Commission has issued a £6m fine to online gaming operator Gamesys, owing to social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) failings. The Commission said it identified the failings at Gamesys during a compliance assessment in May 2022. The regulator added that the fine related to activity between November 2021 and July 2022.

Ballys Corporation-owned Gamesys operates 16 sites in the UK including Ballycasino.co.uk, Doublebubblebingo.com, Jackpotjoy.com and Megawayscasino.com. Alongside the fine, it will undergo a third-party audit to ensure it is effectively implementing AML and safer gambling policies.

Kay Roberts, executive director of operations at the Gambling Commission, said: “Our focus as a regulator is to ensure that operators are employing policies and procedures which make gambling fair, safe and crime-free.

“We take this responsibility extremely seriously and whenever we find failures in policies and procedures then the business can expect significant regulatory action.”

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Social responsibility failures included not always identifying customers at risk of experiencing harms associated with gambling. Meanwhile, records of interactions, considerations and rationale for decisions were said to not always be recorded in enough detail. 

Some of Gamesys’ anti-money laundering failures included customers spending significant amounts without AML checks being conducted, not doing enough when it comes to customer due diligence, and having a ‘Reinvestment of winnings policy’ which was insufficient to take away the risk that the deposited funds could be from illegitimate sources.