Blue Star Planet to Pay £620,000 for AML Failures Uncovered by Gambling Commission
Blue Star Planet which was trading as 10Bet to pay £620,000 ($746,716) after it was found guilty of failing AML regulations and social protection by the UK’s gambling commission.
Between Nov 2019 and June 2021, the Great Britain Gambling Commission uncovered the blue star after it failed compliance with several sections of the LCCP (Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice), which is necessary for every firm to operate in the UK.
The gambling commission identified blue star’s lack of compliance with the AML (Anti-Money Laundering) policies, controls, and procedures. It also uncovered failings in responsible gaming policies, controls, and practices by 10Bet’s operator.
Specific failures were highlighted in reference to paragraphs 1,2,3 of the licence condition 12.1.1 which demands compliance with AML and CFT (Counter Terrorism Financing) laws.
The first paragraph requires licensees to effectively and appropriately assess risks associated with money laundering and terrorist financing. However, the blue star did not explicitly emphasise high-risk factors and therefore was deemed guilty.
For 12.1.1 (2) the licensees must have guidelines in place to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. The commission revealed that this was not the case with the blue star by highlighting several failings, including the financial controls that automatically restrict the customer deposit amounts that were too high. That leads some customers to deposit massive amounts before satisfactory risk profiling could occur.
The next paragraph, 12.1.1(3), states that licensees must update their policies on time with proper reviews. The breachers included many individuals gambling at high velocity before automated restrictions are applied.
Finally, the gambling commission said that the firm failed to comply with paragraphs 1b, 1c, and 2 of the SRCP (Social Responsibility Code Provision) on customer interaction.
It added that 10bet’s operator did not have a dedicated compliance team to monitor safer gambling alerts. This means some players could get safer gambling triggers without real-time interaction and risk assessment.
Further highlighting, the commission added that Blue Star could have better evidenced how customer interactions were evaluated for effectiveness, while the firm did not act with the customers identified by the officials during risk assessment.
The UK’s gambling commission agreed on a regulatory settlement for £620,000 in lieu of a financial penalty. An amount of £3,571.25 is also directed to socially responsible causes towards the costs of its own investigation. In addition, it was agreed the facts of the case would be published.
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