Following an investigation into social responsibility and money laundering failings at the company, the UKGC has imposed a huge £9.4m fine on 888 UK Ltd, along with a formal warning and an instruction to undergo extensive independent auditing.
The Commission said that 888 had failed to effectively identify players at risk of harm because their policies only required financial checks after a customer had deposited £40,000. In 2017, 888 group had a £7.8m penalty imposed for a failure to protect vulnerable customers.
Money laundering failures to conduct source of funds (SOF) checks and accepting verbal assurances from customers as to their income.
Andrew Rhodes, Chief Executive of UKGC, said: “The circumstances of the last enforcement action may be different but both cases involve failing consumers and this is something that is not acceptable. Today’s fine is one of our largest to date, and all should be clear that if there is a repeat of the failures at 888 then we have to seriously consider the suitability of the operator to uphold the licensing objectives and keep gambling safe and crime-free. Consumers in Britain deserve to know that when they gamble, they are participating in a leisure activity where operators play their part in keeping them safe and are carrying out checks to ensure money is crime-free.”
