UK Gaming Authority fines Football Pools Limited £375,000
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) recently slapped online gambling business Football Pools Limited with a hefty £375,000 fine, following a Commission investigation that unearthed social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) breaches.
The breaches transpired between September 2022 and August 2023.
John Pearce, the Commission's Director of Compliance, voiced his concerns, stating,
"This case underscores that the Licensee's approach to profiling and monitoring AML risks was inadequate, permitting high-risk customers to persist in gambling until the necessary enhanced due diligence checks had been executed. Furthermore, the Licensee overly relied on financial alerts to prevent significant losses, leading to neglecting customers who exhibited other symptoms of gambling-related harm, such as extended gambling duration and high spending. While it's acknowledged that the Licensee has rectified the issues post-assessment, the Commission will take additional measures if the standards aren't maintained."
Football Pools Limited's social responsibility failures involved neglecting customers at risk of gambling harm. For instance, they overlooked a customer who wagered £23,674 over 13 days. The company also neglected a customer during a four-hour session where they placed 56 bets and lost £3,523. Moreover, they ignored a customer who staked £47,416 and lost £6,741 over a 10-week period [1].
In terms of AML failures, the company allowed high-risk customers to stake and lose substantial sums without verifying the source of funds due to high financial thresholds. An example includes a customer who staked approximately £47,000 and lost £14,000 over eight months without evidence of checks on the source of funds [1][2].
Following these breaches, Football Pools Limited has been mandated to implement significant improvements. Specifically, undergoing a rigorous audit to ensure compliance with safer gambling and AML standards and demonstrating clear and measurable improvements in policy and practice regarding social responsibility and AML [1]. Failure to implement these improvements may trigger further action from the Commission. These steps aim to ensure that the company strictly adheres to regulatory requirements designed to protect consumers and prevent criminal activities in gambling.
- The UK Gambling Commission's (UKGC) fine of £375,000 on Football Pools Limited was due to breaches in social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) compliance.
- John Pearce, the Commission's Director of Compliance, expressed concerns about Football Pools Limited's approach to profiling and monitoring AML risks.
- Pearce stated that the Licensee's reliance on financial alerts led to neglecting customers exhibiting gambling-related harm.
- Football Pools Limited's social responsibility failures included overlooking customers at risk of gambling harm, such as one who wagered £23,674 over 13 days.
- The company also neglected customers who lost substantial sums during extended gambling sessions, like one who placed 56 bets and lost £3,523 in a four-hour span.
- In terms of AML failures, the company allowed high-risk customers to stake and lose substantial sums without verifying the source of funds.
- An example of AML failures is a customer who staked approximately £47,000 and lost £14,000 over eight months without evidence of checks on the source of funds.
- Following these breaches, Football Pools Limited has been mandated to implement significant improvements, including undergoing a rigorous audit to ensure compliance with safer gambling and AML standards.
- Failure to implement these improvements may trigger further action from the UKGC, with the aim of ensuring the company strictly adheres to regulatory requirements designed to protect consumers and prevent criminal activities in gambling, including casino-and-gambling, casino-games, lotteries, sports-betting, and finance within the fintech and general-news industries, as well as addressing crime-and-justice and responsible-gambling trends.
