White Hat Gaming agrees £1.3m settlement with British regulator
The Malta-based gaming operator has reached a settlement with the Gambling Commission over AML and responsibility failings.
UK.- White Hat Gaming has agreed to pay a settlement of £1.3m after the Gambling Commission flagged a number of anti-money laundering and social responsibility failures.
The Malta-based gaming operator was informed by the Gambling Commission in January last year that it would carry out an investigation into its compliance with the conditions of its combined remote operating licence.
The investigation came after concerns raised during a compliance assessment in March 2019.
See also: UK regulator warns operators to protect customers in lockdown
The British regulator studied White Hat’s handling of seven customers’ accounts and found failings in how it identified and managed customers who presented higher risks of money laundering and problem gambling.
It found that White Hat had breached two licence conditions and a provision of the regulator’s social responsibility code through its grandivy.com, 21casino.com, hellocasino.com and dreamvegas.com brands.
Responsibility failings
In several cases, White Hat carried out intelligence reports on customers but did not request further information to corroborate their explanation for the sources of the funds they were gambling, the regulator said.
It noted that there were cases in which White Hat prioritised creating customer intelligence reports when it should have intervened immediately.
It highlighted a case in which a player lost £85,500 in 85 minutes on the same day he opened an account.
The customer received four interactions confirming the amounts deposited and a higher level interaction with additional safer gambling messaging. White Hat then locked the account on the same day.
The Commission said the amount lost by the customer showed that interactions were not delivered effectively in accordance with its social responsibility code.
See also: Illegal gambling in the UK: regulator rejects “exaggerated” claims
White Hat said it accepted all of the regulator’s findings and was committed to improving its policies and procedures, including the introduction of backstop limits.
It agreed to pay a settlement of £1.3m in place of a financial penalty. The payment will go to Gambling Commission’s National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms. White Hat will also pay costs of £9,818.63 towards the investigation.
See also: British gambling regulator reveals 13% drop in igaming yield
