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Watchdog makes casino giants pay

Simon Freeman @SimonjFreeman

TWO major online casino operators have handed over six-figure settlements as the net tightens around the UK’s online gambling industry.

Rank Digital Gaming, which runs Bella Casino, Grosvenor Casino and Mecca Bingo’s websites, has paid £700,000 to the Gambling Commission over social responsibility failures.

Annexio, whose lottogo.com brand has more than a million customers, paid out £612,000 after the regulator found issues in systems to protect vulnerable people and prevent money laundering.

A regulatory review of Annexio’s operations in the two years to November 2021 detected alleged breaches of licence conditions which demand strict controls to stop cash being laundered or diverted into terrorist financing.

The company accepted that it had not addressed certain risks in sufficient detail, including players using third parties to obscure the source of money, and those paying in crypto.

It also admitted failing to adequately check payslips, meaning some players were spending more than they could afford, and failing to notify the commission of a “bug” that allowed some customers to override deposit limits for two weeks in August 2020.

Rank was rapped for allowing a “small percentage” of players to hold more than one account, and for using average income data to set deposit limits which were “on occasion, too high”.

Annexio said it had recognised changes needed to be made and “compliance and responsible gambling procedures are now at the heart of our business.” Rank declined to comment.

The Government is due to publish a review of gambling laws soon which could see tighter stake limits and stricter rules around advertising.

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2022-01-20T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-20T08:00:00.0000000Z

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