Entain says regulatory issues pre-date upgrades to its systems

Entain says the regulatory lapses that led to it being handed the largest fine in U.K. gambling history pre-date its new procedures to improve anti-money laundering and social responsibility procedures.?

The U.K. Gambling Commission on Wednesday said Entain will pay out ￡17 million for problems at both its land-based and online businesses. The company will pay out ￡14 million for failures at its online business, LC International, which runs 13 websites, including brand names such as ladbrokes.com, coral.co.uk and foxybingo.com.

It will pay a further ￡3 million for lapses at Ladbrokes Betting & Gaming, which runs 2,746 gambling premises across Britain.

In response to the article, Entain said it had agreed to the settlement to bring the matter to a close and avoid further costly and protracted legal proceedings.

The company said the issues raised by the regulator relate to the period between December 2019 and October 2020 before it introduced changes to improve its procedures regarding responsible gambling and AML.?

Awarded for responsible gambling

Entain said in 2021 it launched its Advanced Responsibility and Care program, which uses AI technology and operates in real time. Initial trials of the program in the U.K. have shown a risk assessment accuracy rate of more than 80 percent and a 120 percent increase in the use of safer gambling tools by those most at risk.

The company also points out that in May this year, it was appointed the Advanced Safer Gambling Standard by GamCare for player protection.?

As part of the settlement with the regulator, Entain also agreed to appoint a board sponsor to oversee the implementation of further improvements identified in the original 2020 compliance assessment and to undertake an independent audit of its policies and procedures at a later date.?

Entain said the settlement amount has already been provided for in the group’s accounts.

The Gambling Commission said all GBP17 million will be put towards social responsibility issues.

The regulator’s allegations include being slow to interact, or not interacting with certain customers to minimise their risk of experiencing gambling harm.

It says the company allowed customers to open multiple accounts with the licensee’s other brands even after being blocked after spending GBP60,000 with Coral in 12 months and failing to provide a source of funds.?

Among Anti-Money-Laundering failures, the regulator said the group failed to conduct an adequate risk assessment of their online business, as well as allowing customers to deposit large amounts without carrying out sufficient source of funds checks.?

Andrew Rhodes, Gambling Commission chief executive said that this was the second time that Entain had breached its rules.?

“They should be aware that we will be monitoring them very carefully and further serious breaches will make the removal of their licence to operate a very real possibility,” he said in a statement.?

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