Ladbrokes Coral fined by UKGC

The UK company Ladbrokes Coral has been fined €6.4 million by the UKGC over systemic failings.

UK.- The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has revealed that it has found systemic failings at the Ladbrokes Coral Group. The company has received a penalty package of €6.4 million and a series of improvement measures, which will have to be followed by new owner GVC.

The investigation from the UKGC revealed that between November 2014 and November 2017, Ladbrokes Coral failed to implement effective safeguards to protect vulnerable consumers and against money laundering. These failings continued even after the mergers the Ladbrokes Coral Group.

The gambling watchdog from the UK said at the time of the announcement that more sections may be on the way as further investigations into the actions of personal management license holders continue.

As a result of those failings, GVC will pay €5.2 million as a financial penalty and will divest €6.41.2 million gained from customers as a result of its failings. GVC will also review the top 50 customers for the years 2015-2017 to consider whether any further failings can be identified and if so they will divest themselves of profit accordingly.

The UKGC said that GVC has committed to making a number of improvements to the business including overhauling its responsible gaming and customer interaction processes, retraining staff, and hiring new staff.

Richard Watson, Commission Executive Director, said: “Decision-makers at gambling businesses need to invest in the welfare of their customers and the integrity of money being gambled with. These were systemic failings at a large operator which resulted in consumers being harmed and stolen money flowing through the business and this is unacceptable.”