The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) has issued a new enforcement action against QuinnBet (Gibraltar) Limited as its latest enforcement action. The regulator shared details of the regulatory proceeding on its website, citing anti-money laundering and social responsibility failures.
According to the regulator, QuinnBet (Gibraltar) Limited, which operates the eponymous quinnbet dot com website, has agreed to a £609,104 settlement with the regulator, assisting the investigation. The operator was targeted after a compliance assessment revealed failures in the two aforementioned areas.
John Pierce, Commission Director of Enforcement, has commented on the latest case, arguing that it served as an example of why operatorsought not to rely on specific automated systems to exercise key obligations of their licence agreements.
"This case highlights the serious consequences of relying on systems and controls that are unable to identify and respond to indicators of harm and financial crime quickly enough. We expect operators to ensure their safeguards are effective in practice to protect consumers and keep crime out of gambling."
The regulator offered a breakdown of the specific breaches that it discovered upon review. In the social responsibility category, those included "deploying a manual process which allowed those aged between 18 and 24 to spend over deposit limits the operator had set for this potentially vulnerable group."
Another issue had to do with one customer who was able to place more than 4,800 bets in one day, and 7,000 on the next day. According to the regulator, QuinnBet’s controls did not always flag indicators of harmful behavior on time.
One customer spent £215,000 in a single day, with multiple wagers worth over £5,000. In terms of anti-money laundering (AML) failures, including a customer who showed monthly earnings of about £2,000, who was nevertheless allowed to deposit and lose £9,000 in four days.
Other customers were allowed to deposit "significant funds," but no Source of Funds was provided.
"In this case, the operator recognised the issues and took immediate action to make significant improvements to its systems and controls. This included strengthening their AML policies and procedures and improving how they identify and respond to indicators of harm," Pierce added.
He also noted that the recent enforcement action was meant as an example for other operators to follow and ensure that they do not repeat the same mistakes.
"Our key focus is on ensuring that operators meet the standards we expect and, where they fall short, we will take regulatory action where necessary," Pierce wrapped up.
The regulator has taken similar enforcement action in recent months.
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