Compliance Updates
UKGC: William Hill Group businesses to pay record £19.2m for failures
Three gambling businesses owned by William Hill Group will pay a total of £19.2 million for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.
WHG (International) Limited, which runs williamhill. com, will pay £12.5 million, Mr Green Limited, which runs mrgreen. com, will pay £3.7 million and William Hill Organization Limited, which operates 1,344 gambling premises across Britain, will pay £3 million.
Andrew Rhodes, Gambling Commission chief executive, said: “When we launched this investigation the failings we uncovered were so widespread and alarming serious consideration was given to licence suspension.
“However, because the operator immediately recognised their failings and worked with us to swiftly implement improvements, we instead opted for the largest enforcement payment in our history.”
Today’s action comes just a week after the Commission fined two operators owned by Kindred Group plc a combined £7.2 million and is the largest enforcement case taken on by the regulator. The previous largest was £17 million action taken against Entain in August last year.
Since the start of 2022 the Commission has concluded 26 enforcement cases with operators paying over £76 million because of regulatory failures.
Mr Rhodes said: “In the last 15 months we have taken unprecedented action against gambling operators, but we are now starting to see signs of improvement. There are indications that the industry is doing more to make gambling safer and reducing the possibility of criminal funds entering their businesses.
“Operators are using algorithms to spot gambling harms or criminal risk more quickly, interacting with consumers sooner, and generally having more effective policies and procedures in place.”
Social responsibility failures at William Hill businesses include:
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- Having insufficient controls in place to protect new customers, and to effectively consider high velocity spend and duration of play until the customer may have been exposed to the risk of substantial losses in a short period:
- One customer was allowed to open a new account and spend £23,000 in 20 minutes without any checks.
- Another customer was allowed to open an account and spend £18,000 in 24 hours without any checks.
- And a third customer was allowed to open a new account and spend £32,500 over two days without any checks. (Mr Green)
- Failing to identify certain customers at risk of experiencing gambling related harm and failing to carry out checks at an early stage in the customer’s journey – one customer lost £14,902 in 70 minutes. (Mr Green)
- Failing to identify risk of harm or intervene with certain customers earlier enough – one customer lost £54,252 in four weeks without the operator seeking income evidence, carrying out adequate checks, or using any other effective method to identify risk of harm. (WHG (International) Limited)
- Having insufficient controls which exposed new or returning customers to the risk of substantial losses in a short period of time – one customer opened his account and lost £11,400 over the first 30 days without being subject to sufficient checks and another customer did not have a telephone interaction until losses reached £45,800. (WHG (International) Limited)
- Failing to apply a 24-hour delay between receiving a request for an increase in a credit limit and granting it – one customer was allowed to immediately place a £100,000 bet when his credit limit had been set at £70,000. (WHG (International) Limited)
- Ineffective controls allowed 331 customers to gamble with WHG (International) Limited despite having self-excluded with Mr Green. (WHG (International) Limited)
- Failing to identify changes in the customer behaviour which should have provoked consideration of whether the customer was experiencing harm – a safer gambling interaction was conducted only after he had placed and had accepted an £18,000 bet (William Hill Organisation Ltd (WH Retail))
- Having insufficient controls in place to protect new customers, and to effectively consider high velocity spend and duration of play until the customer may have been exposed to the risk of substantial losses in a short period:
- After its retail premise re-opened following the Covid pandemic lockdown, the operator allowed one customer to lose £10,600 in two days without a safer gambling interaction.
- Despite being unknown and staking £42,253 in 130 bets over a three-day period, staff did not identify one customer as being at risk of experiencing harms associated with gambling or undertake any customer interactions. (William Hill Organisation Ltd (WH Retail))
- Having insufficient controls in place to protect new customers, and to effectively consider high velocity spend and duration of play until the customer may have been exposed to the risk of substantial losses in a short period:
Anti-money laundering (AML) failures include:
- Allowing customers to deposit large amounts without conducting appropriate checks – one customer was able to spend and lose £70,134 in a month, another to lose £38,000 in five weeks and another to lose £36,000 in four days. (WHG (International) Limited)
- Allowing customers to deposit large amounts without conducting appropriate checks – one customer deposited £73,535 and lost £14,068 in four months (Mr Green)
- Customers were able to stake large amounts of money without being monitored or scrutinised to a high enough standard – the operator failed to request Source of Funds (SoF) evidence when one customer staked £19,000 in a single bet, did not obtain documentation from a customer who staked £39,324 and lost £20,360 in 12 days, and did not obtain SoF evidence from a customer who staked £276,942 and lost £24,395 over two months. (William Hill Organisation Ltd (WH Retail))
- Policies, procedures and controls lacked guidance on appropriate action to take following the results of customer profiling and how its findings should be used to establish the appropriate outcome. (WHG (International) Limited) and (Mr Green)
- Procedures and controls lacked hard stops to prevent further spend and mitigate against money laundering risks before customer risk profiling is completed. (WHG (International) Limited) and (Mr Green)
- AML staff training provided insufficient information on risks and how to manage them (WHG (International) Limited) and (Mr Green)
All £19.2 million will be directed towards socially responsible purposes as part of a regulatory settlement.
Additional licence conditions will also be added to ensure a business board member oversees an improvement plan, and that it undergoes a third-party audit to assess that it is effectively implementing its AML and safer gambling policies, procedures and controls.
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Compliance Updates
Entrust and PlaySafe ID Partner to Bring Verified, Privacy-First Digital Identity to Gaming
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Entrust and PlaySafe ID announce a new partnership to enhance online gaming safety.
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Integration of Entrust Identity Verification solution provides seamless and secure Know Your Customer check.
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Playsafe ID platform aims to combat cheating, bots and harmful behaviour, while supporting compliance with the UK Online Safety Act’s Protection of Children Codes.
Entrust, a global leader in identity-centric security solutions, today announced a partnership with PlaySafe ID, the platform that keeps cheaters, bots, and predators out of games. The partnership will power Playsafe ID’s secure onboarding and verification process using Entrust Identity Verification to enable seamless and secure onboarding experience for gamers worldwide.
Built with a privacy-first mindset, Playsafe ID issues a verified, game-agnostic digital ID that confirms the human identity behind the account promoting accountability and improved protection for users, while still allowing them to remain anonymised. The platform aims to address wider issues that erode trust and enjoyment in online gaming communities, such as cheating, hacking, bot activity, and inappropriate behaviour, while ensuring compliance with evolving regulations such as the UK’s Online Safety Act.
How It Works
Users create a Playsafe ID account and complete a quick and secure identity verification process powered by Entrust. Users simply take a photo of their government-issued ID and a short video selfie. Entrust identity verification first checks that the ID is genuine and not fraudulent and then matches it to the user’s face in the selfie video. This ensures the person presenting the identity is its legitimate owner and is physically present, mitigating identity fraud attempts such as stolen ID or deepfakes.
Once verified, users receive a unique, random, and anonymised PlaySafe ID, granting access to PlaySafe-protected gaming and matchmaking with other verified gamers. The verification data is kept separate from the Playsafe ID, ensuring gamers remain anonymised during gameplay while knowing they are engaging with other legitimate, verified players.
“Gaming should be fun, fair, and safe for everyone,” said Andrew Wailes, CEO of PlaySafe ID. “Our partnership with Entrust ensures that our user verification process is both secure and scalable, and also aligns with the values of frictionless user experience and privacy. Their technology will be instrumental in helping us build a future where fair play is the standard, and cheating, fraud and harmful behaviour are no longer tolerated.”
Regulation in Gaming
This partnership will enable game providers and developers to prepare for the inbound Protection of Children Codes, coming into force in July 2025 as part of the Online Safety Act, which mandates that services accessed by children must manage risks and protect children from encountering harmful content.
“We’re proud to join PlaySafe ID in their mission to make online gaming a safer place,” said Samuel Steg, Head of Compliance for Identity Verification at Entrust. “Fraudulent activity online continues to grow both in scope and sophistication, and gaming environments are no exception. Our identity verification technology provides robust, high-assurance Know Your Customer (KYC) checks, offering gamers a seamless and secure onboarding experience. This partnership reflects our shared commitment to building a safer digital future and promoting trust, fairness, and safety within digital spaces.”
PlaySafe ID is currently in integration discussions with several major gaming platforms, with the first partnerships expected to launch later this year.
The post Entrust and PlaySafe ID Partner to Bring Verified, Privacy-First Digital Identity to Gaming appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Compliance Updates
Hacksaw Gaming Streamlines Compliance Operations with Vixio’s Technical Compliance Tool
Vixio, a leading provider of regulatory intelligence solutions, is proud to announce that it has partnered with leading gaming supplier Hacksaw Gaming to strengthen its regulatory compliance processes amid increasing scrutiny from global gambling authorities, amid increased global focus on industry standards and practices
Faced with the challenge of tracking and interpreting evolving technical requirements across multiple jurisdictions, Hacksaw Gaming has adopted Vixio’s Technical Compliance Tool to navigate an increasingly demanding compliance landscape for B2B suppliers.
The Technical Compliance Tool is the first of its kind to offer a one-stop solution for navigating technical requirements for gambling operators and suppliers. Vixio analysts monitor over 200 regulatory sources and have tracked 43 regulatory updates across global critical jurisdictions for technical compliance since September 2024.
“Prior to using the Vixio Technical Compliance tool, we had an internal database… it would take three to five hours a week to ensure everything was updated and go through multiple sheets and resources to ensure the changes. But, now [with Vixio’s Technical Compliance Tool], it takes just a couple of minutes,” said Gabriel Fenech, CTO, Hacksaw Gaming. “Now we use those resources for other day-to-day matters.”
The Technical Compliance Tool offers a centralised, regularly updated source of information on technical requirements for regulated gambling markets, helping B2B suppliers like Hacksaw Gaming ensure timely, accurate compliance without the manual burden. Since launch, Vixio has added over 3,500 unique resources where the regulations for technical compliance are referenced. Earlier this year, the product was also expanded to include infosecurity requirements.
Commenting on the partnership, Roger Cowin, Technical Compliance Specialist, Vixio, said: “As the regulatory landscape becomes more complex, it’s critical for suppliers to have reliable, up-to-date information at their fingertips. Our mission is to empower firms like Hacksaw to navigate regulatory challenges with clarity and precision.”
The benefits of implementing the Vixio Technical Compliance Tool were immediate and far-reaching, with Fenech explicitly calling out the following:
- Efficiency gains: “We would carry out all of this research manually… now everything is in one place.”
- Easily compare jurisdictions: “The ease of comparing jurisdictions and having the main requirements per market so easily accessible is what makes it so attractive.”
- Quick references: “I really appreciate that there is a link to the actual regulation, so we can even check it ourselves and reference it, if need be.”
- Improved onboarding: “Some of my team members are still in training… the fact that they have the tool to refer to means they can analyse particular requirements themselves, and it’s just more efficient for the whole team.”
- Confidence in expansion: “This will also make upcoming market entries much easier, and I foresee there will be quite a few in the coming years.”
- Customer support: “I had some questions about upcoming regulations in Spain… I got replies really quickly, and the replies were all very detailed.”
The partnership reflects a growing need for intelligent compliance solutions as gaming suppliers expand into new and increasingly regulated markets. By integrating Vixio’s platform, Hacksaw Gaming is not only enhancing its internal processes but also reinforcing its commitment to responsible and compliant operations.
The post Hacksaw Gaming Streamlines Compliance Operations with Vixio’s Technical Compliance Tool appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
MC Games has officially announced its exclusive ombudsman channel. The space arises to listen carefully to the opinions, suggestions, doubts and possible complaints of the platform’s users, ensuring direct dialogue and continuous improvement of the services offered.
Thinking about every detail so as not to leave any player with an unsolved problem, MC Games offers several steps to help players: First, the bettor finds a team with humanized support, 24 hours a day, in the chat. If the problem is still not resolved, the gaming platform offers the Ombudsman Channel to answer major questions, which are beyond the basic guidelines on how to withdraw, make a deposit or other such issues.
In a simple and intuitive way, the user is faced with the “Report on the Web” button on the site, directing him to the Customer Service Center. There, he will be able to answer questions, with the requested information, ensuring that his service happens quickly, safely, and efficiently.
The same space also works for those who want to share compliments, report the browsing experience on the platform and even send suggestions, so that the MC Games team can increasingly improve the experience of its audience, offering the most innovative in the market.
The post MC Games Announces Ombudsman Channel for User Questions appeared first on Gaming and Gambling Industry in the Americas.
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