Unibet Operator Hit With Fresh £10m Penalty Following AML Failures

Platinum Gaming Ltd has been slapped with a £10 million penalty after falling short with its Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and social responsibility policies. A thorough investigation carried out by the Gambling Commission outlined the problems that Platinum Gaming, which operates Unibet and UK.bingo.com, failed to identify.

Apart from receiving a warning over its conduct, Platinum Gaming will now be forced to undergo a third-party audit. This is designed to ensure the company properly implements AML and safer gambling procedures moving forward.

Extent of failures revealed

The Gambling Commission uncovered several areas where Platinum Gaming fell short with its social responsibility obligations. Some examples noted in the damning report were:

• Not interacting with a customer who lost over £31,000 within nine months, and hit their monthly loss limit on six occasions, demonstrating harmful gambling.
• Not recognising a customer who exceeded their £2,500 loss limit within 16 minutes of registering their account.
• Failing to identify binge gambling and problem gamblers.

On the AML side, there were also serious shortcomings revealed. Some examples that cropped up were as follows:

• Platinum’s money laundering/terrorist financing risk assessment failed to consider customers whose accounts had been closed due to money laundering or terrorist concerns prior to 2023, effectively allowing them to open new accounts to gamble.
• The AML policy in place at the time lacked clarity around the level of customer due diligence and enhanced customer due diligence measures conducted, and how this determined the level of risk placed upon a customer.
• Despite being flagged in the Licensee’s risk assessment, there was no evidence that high-risk factors, such as occupation and transactions, were considered during customer reviews.

Platinum Gaming has been here before

As far as Platinum Gaming is concerned, it’s not the first time their behaviour has been scrutinised by the Gambling Commission. In 2023, Platinum Gaming faced enforcement action over its approach to AML and safer gambling measures.

Platinum Gaming were fined £2.9 million for its failures. Crucially, the previous report overlapped with the most recent investigation, which flagged gambling harms and other pain points that weren’t identified or dealt with effectively.

What has the Gambling Commission said?

Unsurprisingly, the Gambling Commission took a dim view of matters. Platinum Gaming’s shortcomings were exposed by John Pierce, Commission Director of Enforcement.

He said: “While industry progress has been made in reducing unchecked high spending, the failings at Platinum Gaming are particularly disappointing.

“The case revealed serious shortcomings in customer interaction systems, including failures to identify and act on clear markers of harm. These included customers losing thousands within hours or days of registration, and exhibiting patterns of binge and high-velocity gambling without appropriate intervention.”

Learning from its mistakes

Given the fresh warning and huge financial penalty levied on Platinum Gaming, it is hoped the company will learn from its mistakes. Changing tack and being more mindful of its duty towards gamblers is something that Pierce was keen to impress.

He added: “These added conditions are designed to drive meaningful change, reinforce accountability, and embed a culture of compliance.

“Senior leaders must take ownership of compliance outcomes and ensure lessons are embedded across the organisation, supported by structured reporting and board level oversight - and further regulatory activity will remain a possibility.”

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