Two affiliates of the well-known gambling firm Bet365 have been hit with financial penalties totaling £582,120 following regulatory oversights identified during a rigorous compliance assessment. Hillside (UK Gaming) ENC, responsible for Bet365’s bingo and casino products, will be contributing £343,035, whereas Hillside (UK Sports) ENC, handling betting offerings, will contribute £239,085. These payments are to be directed towards causes focused on social responsibility as a part of the settlement agreement with the United Kingdom’s Gambling Commission (GC).
The discrepancies in compliance were brought to the forefront by the GC during an evaluation conducted in March 2022. The findings revealed deficiencies in Bet365’s systems and controls meant to prevent harm to customers and inhibit potential money laundering activities.
There were several particular shortcomings related to social responsibility obligations. Firstly, it was found that Bet365’s customer interactions did not meet the standards of being “meaningful.” This verdict was attributed to the lack of personalization in communications which were often disconnected from the customer’s actual behavior or the array of potential harm they could be facing. Moreover, the GC highlighted inadequacies in Bet365’s Early Risk Detection System, criticizing it for not being demonstrably effective in discerning the impact of interactions with a customer. Such ineffectiveness meant it failed to ascertain whether intervention measures taken were successful or whether additional action was warranted.
In addition, Bet365 was cited for its failure to confirm that customers had adequately read and understood any information or advice provided, thereby questioning the effectiveness of responsible gambling messaging.
On the anti-money laundering front, four major failings were identified. Bet365’s internal protocols for enhanced due diligence and Know Your Customer (KYC) triggers proved to be ineffectual at mitigating risks associated with money laundering. The company was also found lacking in conducting mandatory financial sanction checks on new customers before accepting their initial deposits. The probe further unveiled Bet365’s over-reliance on self-certified KYC data provided annually by customers, without adequate independent verification. Furthermore, the documents outlining procedures for customer risk profiling were criticized for insufficient detail regarding the identification of customers considered “at risk.”
Kay Roberts, the GC’s executive director of operations, while contrasting the gravity of these failings with larger breaches at other gambling businesses in recent years, underscored that despite not being as severe, the infractions by Bet365 were significant and required rectification. She emphasized the high standards demanded of operators to ensure that gambling remains safe, fair, and void of criminal elements. Roberts issued a reminder that should there be a repetition of such compliance failures, escalating regulatory action would ensue.
Though substantial, the sanctions against Bet365 are comparatively lower than some previous penalties meted out by the GC to industry stakeholders. Notably, in January, the Commission imposed a fine of £6.0 million on Gamesys following the discovery of a series of violations related to social responsibility and anti-money laundering regulations.
The GC’s decisive move against Bet365 sends a clear message to the gambling industry about the regulator’s unwavering commitment to consumer protection and maintaining the integrity of gambling operations within the UK. It stands as a reminder that the GC will persistently seek to enforce compliance and will not hesitate to administer punitive measures when disparities in regulatory adherence are discovered.
