UK Gambling Commission Publishes Enforcement Report and Call to Action to Operators

Working towards a safer and fairer online gambling environment for UK consumers, the UK Gambling Commission has sent a “call to action” to operators. More precisely, the UK online gambling authority a few days ago has published the Enforcement Report for 2017-2018; this report is related to the aim of raising standards for consumers.

This report, which can be found online, focuses on six key points such as anti-money laundering, customer interaction and self-exclusion. It is interesting to note that the report comes shortly after the UKGC fined the top UK operator 32Red Casino with a £2 million fine for failing to comply with two of these key points.

UKGC Wants Operators to Pay More Attention

UKGC Chief Executive, Neli McArthur, has commented on the Enforcement Report 2017-2018 and mentioned several concerns. Namely, McArthur has pointed out that the Commission wanted operators “to pay attention to the lessons set out” in the report. Moreover, he pointed out that operators should focus more on providing a safer and fairer environment to consumers.

His statement seems to be a reminder that every operator that fails to respect the provisions and recommendations by the UKGC should brace themselves for a massive fine. Thus, operators such as 32Red and William Hill, both issued a massive penalty in the past, would probably be more interested into collaborating with the authority.

After all, one of the points highlighted by McArthur was the wish to see businesses collaborate and invest resources into “data, technology and research” that should build better consumer protections.  He was clear that the Enforcement Report was also “a call to action” to operators and their leaders to put their consumers first.

Number of Banned Unlicensed Operators Keeps Growing

There are six key fields of interest covered in the Enforcement Report. These are anti-money laundering, customer interaction, self-exclusion, unfair terms and practices, marketing and advertising and illegal gambling. The report offers key points on all of them and reminds operators of the changes they are expected to make.

For example, when it comes to anti-money laundering, the Commission highlights urging operators to review customer identity checks and reminding operators to appoint a responsible individual for their compliance with the latest anti-money laundering regulations. Moreover, the authority mentions three notable enforcement actions against operators that had AML failings including Stan James Online and William Hill Group.

There are similar examples of wrong-doing provided for all focus fields as well as a healthcheck part where the UKGC provides Good Practice recommendations. For example, the authority lists crucial regulations that operators must read and comply with as well as certain questions operators need to ask before allowing consumers to keep spending at their platforms.

Finally, the Enforcement Report 2017-2018 features certain statistics that gives honest image of the Commission’s work. Namely, the statistics shows that in 2015 there was enforcement activity on 40 unlicensed operators and in 2016 the figure was 57; the trend seems to keep growing as in 2017 the UKGC has taken enforcement activity against 61 unlicensed operators. Also, the report revealed that early this year the Commission has opened 22 investigations into remote casino operators.