The Gambling Commission has issued a penalty of £237,600 against AG Communications. 

UK.- The British Gambling Commission has announced that it has issued a regulatory penalty of £237,600 to AG Communications for breaching new due diligence requirements on white-label partners. It has also issued an official warning and additional licence conditions for the breaches of AML standards.

The regulator said AG, which trades as Aspire Global, had been unable to demonstrate that it performed sufficient due diligence checks on six businesses with which it signed white-label partnerships.

The Gambling Commission updated its AML and terrorist financing standards this year to state that operators “should also give due consideration to the money laundering risks posed by their business-to-business relationships, including any third parties they contract with”.

The new guidance says companies should consider the jurisdictional location of third parties and any relevant related legislation beneficial ownership and source of funds. They should also consider transactions and arrangements that partners may be involved in, including payment providers and processors.

The Gambling Commission said it introduced these changes after finding examples of licence holders receiving third-party investment or entering white-label partnerships that were later identified as high-risk for AML purposes.

The regulator said: “Effective management of third-party relationships should assure operators that the relationship is a legitimate one and that they can evidence why their confidence is justified.”

It said that it will require AG Communications to ensure that effective due diligence checks are conducted in the future.

British gambling yield down 4% quarter-on-quarter

The Gambling Commission has published its data on British gross gambling yield for the third quarter. It reported that GGY for the three months ending September 30 reached £1.20bn. That’s a drop of 4 per cent from the previous quarter.

The regulator noted that the number of bets and active accounts also fell in the three months. The number of bets and spins played online fell by 1 per cent and the number of active accounts by 9 per cent, although casino customers were up 15 per cent.