© Provided by City AM New Betfred penalty signs off gambling commission’s summer of fines(Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
© Provided by City AM (Photo by Alex Livesey/Getty Images)
The Gambling Commission has whacked yet another betting firm with a multi-million pound fine this morning, handing Betfred a £2.87m penalty for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.
The operator Petfre (Gibraltar) – which runs betfred.com and oddsking.com – will also receive an official warning for failures at the business.
“This is a further example of us taking action to investigate and sanction alarming failures,” Leanne Oxley, Gambling Commission Director of Enforcement and Intelligence, said. “Where standards do not improve, tougher enforcement will follow”.
A Betfred spokesperson said in a statement: “We will work with the UK Gambling Commission and continually review all our Anti-Money Laundering and Social Responsibility policies. During our assessment, the Commission found no evidence of criminal activity. We remain committed to providing a safer gambling environment for our customers.”
In the last few months, the watchdog has dished out a number of fines to gambling firms, including Spreadex, Betway and Smarkets.
In August, Ladbrokes owner Entain was hit with a record £17m over “completely unacceptable” anti-money laundering and social responsibility failures. The commission said it repeatedly failed to protect problematic gamblers from betting huge sums in their shops and online casinos.
Director of campaign group Clean Up Gambling Matt Zarb-Cousin told City A.M. that the trend was significant for the upcoming gambling reform, which has been put on the back burner amid political turmoil.
“The Gambling Commission is sending a clear message to operators that substantial fines will be levied for practices that fall short of expectations,” he said.
“But the penalties need to be more significant, and investigations more frequent, if enforcement action is going to catalyse culture change within the operators. Otherwise fines are seen as another cost of doing business.”
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