Betfred has been handed a £825,000 fine by the Gambling Commission (GC) for social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) failings.
The GC’s investigation, which took place in 2024, uncovered that the operator insufficiently identified and managed the money laundering risks associated with its land-based gaming machines.
The Warrington-based bookmaker was also unable to assess how much customers were spending on the B3 gaming machines.
Betfred was found to have an ineffective policy in place to identify and handle any customers who might be subject to financial sanctions.
The regulator also determined that the thresholds at which Betfred made enquiries into a player’s source of income was “not appropriately risk-based”.
The boundaries were set at £15,000 in losses and at £125,000 in stakes in a 365-day period.
The GC said that while Betfred used machine alert and reports, the processes in place at the time meant the firm was “unable to assess overall customer spend and the associated money laundering and terrorist financing risks”.
In terms of social responsibility failures, the GC found Betfred could not “adequately identify spend and any associated financial indicators of gambling harm” for players using the land-based machines.
When customers did exhibit risk indicators associated with gambling-related harm, the GC felt that Betfred’s interactions didn’t suitably minimise the risk of further harm being caused.
The regulator noted that “the quality of interactions, in particular understanding the impact of the interaction, did not to meet the standards required”.
In addition to the fine, Betfred will also receive a warning and have to undergo a third-party audit to make sure it is implementing the necessary AML and social responsibility practices.
Betfred cooperated with the regulator throughout the process and has rectified its proccesses.
John Pierce, director of enforcement for the GC, said: “While the failings identified during the 2024 compliance assessment were predominantly technical breaches rather than arising from specific customer examples, they were nevertheless unacceptable.
“Particularly with thresholds appearing too high and insufficiently risk based when assessed in practice, and deficiencies in some processes and procedures adopted by the licensee.
“We fully acknowledge the improvements the operator has already made since these issues were identified, and the independent audit will be key to confirming these changes are sustained so that the operator continues to be fully compliant with social responsibility and anti-money laundering requirements.”
A Betfred spokesperson said: “Following a review of our UK-based betting shops by the Gambling Commission we have further strengthened our anti-money laundering and social responsibility policies.
“During the review, the Commission found no evidence of criminal spend in our shops. Betfred is committed to ensuring a safe gambling experience for all our customers.”
The fine represents Betfred’s second GC sanction for AML and social responsibility failings, with the operator paying a £3.25m regulatory settlement in 2023 over other retail shortcomings.
In October, Betfred was handed a £240,000 fine by the GC after certain features on its online slots games were found to have breached industry standards.
The post Betfred fined £825,000 by GC over AML and social responsibility failings first appeared on EGR Intel.
Operator hit with penalty over “unacceptable” breaches uncovered by a 2024 investigation in relation to its retail estate
The post Betfred fined £825,000 by GC over AML and social responsibility failings first appeared on EGR Intel.