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Gambling Commission slaps £316k fine on BK8 operator for safety failures

A major gambling operator let vulnerable players keep betting after safety alerts—now regulators are cracking down. What went wrong, and what's next?

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2 min read
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The image shows a group of gamblers attacking the readers, depicted in a paper with a drawing of a man in a hat and a woman in a dress. The gamblers are standing in a line, with some of them holding objects in their hands, while the woman is lying on the ground in front of them. At the bottom of the paper, there is some text written.

Gambling Commission slaps £316k fine on BK8 operator for safety failures

The gambling regulator in the UK, the Gambling Commission, issued a new fine against an operator Wednesday. The regulatory watchdog said it imposed a fine against TGP Europe Limited, over breaches related to social responsibility, as well as anti-money laundering (AML). The popular operator is licensed in the UK and is currently in charge of 19 websites including BK8, Kaiyun, Fun88 and 12Bet, among others.

Upon probing the operations of TGP Europe, the Gambling Commission uncovered failures related to social responsibility and AML, which resulted in a £316,250 ($253,150) financial penalty against the operator. Besides the financial sanction, the regulator said TGP Europe will receive an official warning due to the uncovered breaches.

Additionally, the Gambling Commission confirmed that the gambling operator will see additional conditions attached to its license. Ultimately, those conditions seek to ensure that TGP Europe will conduct thorough due diligence checks. Last but not least, the gambling regulator reminded that licensees need to adhere to the regulation and ensure following their obligations.

"Gambling operator TGP Europe Limited will pay a £316,250 penalty for anti-money laundering and social responsibility failures. The operator - which runs 19 websites - will also receive an official warning and have conditions added to its license," reads a statement released by the Gambling Commission

The GC Uncovers Breaches of Social Responsibility, AML

Describing the deficiencies, the regulator said that the operator did not have a sufficient risk assessment in place for money laundering and terrorist financing. The operator was unable to adequately address risks such as ID theft, when a customer is providing false information or using third-party information. Additionally, the Commission said TGP Europe failed to identify risks related to "complex or unusually large transactions."

Further AML breaches identified that the operator did not have effective policies and procedures for due diligence checks before engaging in white-label agreements. The regulator also uncovered deficiencies related to the mitigation and consideration of money laundering risks within business-to-business partnerships.

On the other hand, the social responsibility failures uncovered by the regulator included allowing players to gamble despite hitting a safer gambling alert. The Commission claimed that the operator did not intervene in such cases, allowing customers to continue to gamble.

Further breaches included "relying on automated, as opposed to human, interactions when customers hit safer gambling alerts." At the same time, TGP Europe failed to assess the effectiveness of the interactions or take extra precautions such as engaging with bettors via phone, explained the gambling watchdog.

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