Gambling Commission fines Betfred
The regulator has fined Betfred £3.25m for AML and social responsibility failings.
UK.- The British Gambling Commission has issued another multi-million-pound fine for anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility failings with a £3.25m penalty against Betfred for failings committed as recently as December.
The omnichannel operator registered as Done Bros (Cash Betting) Limited has 1,750 high-street betting shops, a website and an app. It was found to have committed breaches of licence conditions between January 2021 and December 2022.
It was found to have insufficient customer protection controls and insufficient monitoring of high-velocity spend and play duration, leaving some customers at risk of incurring substantial losses without receiving safer gambling interactions. The Gambling Commission also said Betfred had assumed winning customers had no risk, citing a case where a bettor wagered £517,499 without receiving an interaction.
Executive director of operations Kay Roberts said: “In recent years there’s been a public focus on online gambling but this case illustrates how important it is for us to continue our drive to raise standards across the whole industry.
“Gambling is a legitimate leisure activity enjoyed safely by millions but it is vital that every single operator – either online or offline – has in place effective safeguards to prevent harm or crime.”
The Gambling Commission also highlighted issues with poor record keeping. It said that Betfred lacked evidence of having evaluated individual customer interactions, which harmed the effectiveness of further customer interactions.
Meanwhile, financial thresholds for AML monitoring were set “too high” and KYC and source of funds were found to be inconsistent, with the operator relying too much on open-source information and failing to corroborate customer source of funds details.
Betfred’s £3.25m settlement will be given to social responsibility causes. It’s the latest in a series of substantial fines from the British gambling regulator. In March the Gambling Commission announced a record £19.2m fine against William Hill, surpassing the £17m fine issued against Entain last August.
This month, the regulator has issued a warning and a £594,000 penalty against Star Racing Limited for anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility failings. The operator has had extra conditions applied to its licence.
