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UKGC Imposes £9.4M Fine on 888 UK Limited Over Social Responsibility and AML Failures
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has imposed a fine of £9.4 million on 888 UK Limited for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.
888 UK Limited, which operates 78 websites including 888.com, has also received an official warning and will have to undergo extensive independent auditing.
The penalty package marks the second time 888 has faced an enforcement action by the UKGC who in 2017 ordered the FTSE250 operator to pay £7.8 million due to its failure to protect vulnerable customers.
Andrew Rhodes, Chief Executive of the UKGC, said: “The circumstances of the last enforcement action may be different but both cases involve failing consumers – and this is something that is not acceptable.
“Today’s fine is one of our largest to date, and all should be clear that if there is a repeat of the failures at 888 then we have to seriously consider the suitability of the operator to uphold the licensing objectives and keep gambling safe and crime-free.
“Consumers in Britain deserve to know that when they gamble, they are participating in a leisure activity where operators play their part in keeping them safe and are carrying out checks to ensure money is crime-free.”
Social responsibility failures included:
- not effectively identifying players at risk of harm because their policies determined financial checks should be carried out after a customer had deposited £40,000
- not carrying out a customer interaction with a customer who lost £37,000 in a six week period during the Covid-19 pandemic
- not taking into account the Commission’s formal guidance on customer interaction
- giving a customer they knew was an NHS worker earning £1400 a month a monthly deposit cap of £1300
- most of the interactions conducted predominately consisted of an email just detailing the responsible gambling tools and did not require a customer response
- during a Commission assessment, there was no evidence of the operator proactively placing restrictions on accounts where social responsibility concerns were raised
- not ensuring that if a customer has multiple accounts those accounts are managed for customer interaction holistically and financial limits can be implemented across all accounts. In one example, a customer had one of his 11 accounts restricted because of Source of Funds (SOF) concerns, but he was allowed to open three more accounts and continue gambling.
Money laundering failures included:
- implementing a policy where customers were allowed to deposit £40,000 before carrying out SOF checks
- accepting verbal assurances from customers as to employment income and being reliant on open-source information to validate SOF
- not setting out which documents should be requested as part of SOF checks
- allowing one customer to spend £65,835 in just 5 months without SOF checks being carried out
- not effectively implementing its own policies which stated that customers have 10 days to present SOF documentation before their account was restricted. In one case a customer’s SOF were not requested until three weeks after the 10 day trigger and lost £15,000 during that period.
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Leading betting platform Stake proudly announces that Ultimate Fighting Championship (“UFC”) Women’s Flyweight World Champion, Valentina Shevchenko, has signed on as a Global Ambassador for the brand.
One of the most iconic and celebrated athletes in combat sports, Shevchenko currently reigns as the UFC Flyweight World Champion and holds the coveted No. 1 spot in the UFC’s Women’s Pound-for-Pound rankings. A Muay Thai specialist from Kyrgyzstan, Shevchenko has dominated the MMA world since her UFC debut in 2015, and continues to build her legacy as one of the sport’s all-time greats. She will next defend her title on May 11 against top contender Manon Fiorot of France.
With this partnership, Shevchenko joins a championship roster of Stake ambassadors that includes UFC stars Merab Dvalishvili, Alexandre Pantoja, Max Holloway, Alex Pereira, and Israel Adesanya.
Speaking on the partnership, Shevchenko said:
“Stake has become one of the most important and exciting partners of the UFC, and I’m proud to now be a Global Ambassador for the brand. Stake is the home of champions, and I’m excited to work with its incredible team.”
Akhil Sarin, Chief Marketing Officer at Stake, added:
“We’re absolutely thrilled to welcome Valentina to the Stake family. It’s rare to see a true legend of the sport still performing at the absolute highest level, and we’re excited to build a long and successful partnership together. We feel that the Stake brand is now synonymous with the UFC, and our relationships with the very best athletes in the sport helps us continue to grow in the MMA sphere.”
The post UFC Champion Valentina Shevchenko Joins Stake as Global Brand Ambassador appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Global entertainment brand SkillOnNet announced today it has launched BF Games’ portfolio of cutting-edge slots and dice games in the UK. Over 100 titles from the leading game provider are now available for players at SkillOnNet’s UK-facing brands, including flagship site PlayOJO.
The move represents an extension of the existing partnership between the two companies that saw the successful introduction of BF Games content to SkillOnNet brands in several .com markets.
These included Stunning Crown Cash Mesh™, which showcases BF Games’ acclaimed Cash Mesh™ mechanic. The feature allows players to collect special symbols to trigger instant cash rewards, imbuing every spin with anticipation and excitement.
The BF Games portfolio includes everything from classic fruit-themed slots to richly themed immersive video slots with cutting-edge features. Also popular are the studio’s dice games, which combine traditional slot mechanics with dice-based elements to offer a unique gameplay experience.
Jani Kontturi, Head of Games at SkillOnNet said: “We’re thrilled to strengthen our partnership with BF Games and bring their exceptional content to our UK players. Their games strike the perfect balance between classic appeal and cool, modern features, making them a great fit for our audience.”
Rok Hribar, CCO at BF Games said: “Our collaboration with SkillOnNet has already shown great results in international markets, and expanding into the UK is a natural next step. We’re excited to see our games reach more players through such a trusted industry big hitter.”
The post PlayOJO and other SkillOnNet brands add BF Games portfolio in UK rollout appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
London-based video virtuals and instant win games specialist Highlight Games Limited today announces that it has signed an exclusive, long-term deal to create a range of virtual sports and gaming products featuring Italy’s premier 5-a-side competition, Serie A1 Futsal. Games will feature teams including Napoli, Roma 1927, L48 Torino and Came Treviso.
Highlight Games is the #1 virtual sports supplier in Italy and, since the launch of SOCCERBET in 2019, has grown the market by 78% in five years.
Steven Holmes, CEO, Highlight Games said: ‘‘I’m excited to announce this partnership with Serie A1 Futsal, and with it the introduction of a new fast-paced SOCCERBET game format. By cutting a series of five second clips we will create the first ever virtual sports product featuring twelve goals with outcomes ranging from 12-0 to 0-12. Highlight Games is incredibly proud to be the #1 virtual sports supplier in the biggest virtuals market in the world and our success only makes us more ambitious to create more engaging and innovative content for our valued partners.’’
The post HIGHLIGHT GAMES ANNOUNCES EXCLUSIVE DEAL WITH SERIE A1 FUTSAL appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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