Entain PLC Fails Compliance Tests

Customers complained that Entain Plc was slow to interact and engage with customers that were experiencing gambling difficulties. Customers who were banned from one brand under Entain Plc were allowed to open another account with another website. One customer was blocked by one of the websites for spending £60,000 and did not disclose their source of funds.

Entain Plc conducted only one safer gambling interaction with a customer. Entain Plc did not advocate for responsible gambling which is the industry’s approach to limiting the risk of problem gambling. The customer gambled overnight during 18 months and deposited £230,000. Entain Plc staff failed to follow up on problem gambling when a delivery man lost £17,000 because that’s a huge amount of money compared to what he earns at work. The lack of oversight from the company led to the UK Gambling commission identifying the compliance failings by Entain Plc.

Largest Penalty in UK Gambling History

UKGC issued a penalty of £17m to the largest operator in the UK. It is the highest penalty in UK history issued to Entain Plc for its regulatory failures. Ladbrokes Betting and Gaming unit was issued a penalty worth £3m. Ladbrokes Betting and Gaming unit operates 2,750 gaming venues in the UK because they failed to spot problem gamblers.

Ladbrokes failed to carry out due diligence on their customers. A customer would stake thousands of pounds on different shop terminals before Ladbrokes staff could identify the individual.

UKGC placed Entain under additional licensing conditions

The conditions force the company to create an improvement plan. Entain would also face an audit review of its compliance standards because there were serious failures in its enforcement.

Operators have to be above reproach because certain activities may result in money laundering claims. Money laundering claims can only be neutralized if customers reveal their source of funds. Operators have to promote safer gambling measures by ensuring their customers don’t spend over the limit.

It is the second time that Entain has not followed the rules and more fines will follow if they don’t ensure gambling is safer and crime-free. They should be aware of any incidences and handle serious breaches. If they do not sanitize the industry their license may be revoked

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Jacob Evans Written by Jacob Evans