Gamesys didn’t start the year as they planned to, as the UK Gambling Commission issued them a £6 million fine. The UKGC is well-known for its harsh treatment of its licensees. But, that’s one of the reasons that makes it one of the best in the iGaming industry.
What’s the Fine About?
The UK Gambling Commission conducted an investigation on Gamesys Operations Limited and revealed Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and social responsibility failings.
Apart from the fine, this company must also undergo a third-party audit. That way it can ensure that it’s effectively implementing its safer gambling and anti-money laundering policies, controls, and procedures.
The company’s breaches occurred from November 2021 up to July 2022. These breaches came to light as a result of a Commission compliance assessment in May 2022.
Gamesys Operations Limited is a company that operates 12 gaming websites, including jackpotjoy.com, ballycasino.co.uk, and doublebubblebingo.com. It has been working in the iGaming industry since 2001 and has a lot of experience in the field.
In October 2021, Bally’s Corporation, a U.S. casino operator, acquired the company for £2.14 billion. This shows us that the new owners breached the laws and guidelines only one month after they bought Gamesys.
Gamesys Failures That Lead to the Fine
As noted earlier, Gamesys’ failures occurred in social responsibility and in Anti-Money Laundering (AML). The failures in social responsibility included not always discovering customers who are at risk of gambling harm.
The company relied on inappropriate checks to determine whether a customer went bankrupt, or whether they were insolvent as a result of gambling harm.
Next, Gamesys had a system of deposit limits that for some customers didn’t identify the risks of harm in time. The system in place didn’t find risks when a customer deposited £8,255 within 3 days of registration. There were a few other cases where the deposit limits failed to present gambling harm.
Another failure was not always communicating with customers who may be at risk of experiencing gambling harm. The operator only interacted with one customer who made losses of almost £10,000. Also, responsible gambling interaction included recommendations for new promos and games.
Gamesys only carried away one responsible gambling interaction with a player that suffered losses of £19,709 over the course of 5 months.
The final social responsibility failure concerned the records of interactions, considerations, and rationale for decisions. Gamesys didn’t always record them in sufficient detail.
As for the Anti-Money Laundering, the company made a few crucial failures. In some occurrences, some customers were able to evade some of the AML triggers. That made them spend a significant amount without any AML checks.
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