The Gambling Commission of the UK had imposed a fine of £17 million ($20.1m) on the gambling company Entain Group for social responsibility and AML failures at its online and land-based businesses. The company will pay £14 million ($16.5m) for failures at its online business, and £3 million ($3.6m) for failures at its land-based operations in the UK. The Commission will direct the amount of the fine towards social causes.
One of Entain’s social responsibility failures was the lack of adequate cautionary interaction with customers to minimize their risk of facing gambling-related harms. The company also allowed customers restricted on one website to open multiple accounts on the company’s other websites. Further, the company failed to monitor the inefficiency of local staff or area managers to timely report potential concerns with customers.
Among the company’s AML failures was its failure to conduct an adequate ML/TF risk assessment for its online business. It also allowed online customers to deposit large sums without conducting sufficient checks on the source of funds. Moreover, Entain failed to conduct timely enhanced customer due diligence checks. Furthermore, the company relied excessively on open-source information to scrutinize its customers before allowing them to place large bets.
Source: Gambling Commission, UK
