The Gambling Commission of the UK announced a £1 million fine on ProgressPlay Limited due to compliance failure
The Gambling Commission of the United Kingdom, in its compliance assessment, found serious compliance failure by ProgressPlay Limited, an online gambling operator, in Anti-Money Laundering and social responsibility. The operator was penalised to pay £1 million.
ProgressPlay Limited runs a network of 134 gambling websites under its license. The regulator said that the network failed to conduct effective money laundering and terror financing assessment, given that the gambling industry is most likely to be the hub for money launderers.
In addition, they failed to scrutinise the transactions to ensure the legitimacy of the source of their wealth. In several cases, the operator failed to monitor whether transactions were consistent with what it knew about customers. The regulator said these failures undermined efforts to prevent criminal activity through the gambling sector.
The operator did not have an effective monitoring system while onboarding its customers. The regulators regarded this as a lack of social responsibility that such operators are required to follow. The commission also indicated the absence of a clear mechanism for its staff to follow if any suspicious activity is witnessed.
The formal warning was also issued apart from the financial penalty, which required ProgressPlay to undergo an independent third-party audit to monitor its anti-money laundering and social responsibility controls within six months. The regulator said the new audit requirement is intended to ensure the company takes remedial action and that future compliance can be independently verified.
The Director of Enforcement and Intelligence, John Pierce, said,
“Gambling businesses must have robust policies and procedures in place to protect consumers and ensure appropriate anti-money laundering controls are maintained. These measures must be actively implemented and regularly tested to confirm their effectiveness.”
This is the second time ProgressPlay has faced enforcement action. In 2022, the company was fined £175,718 due to similar shortcomings. The Commission said,
“Operators should be in no doubt: repeated regulatory breaches will result in increasingly severe enforcement action.”
Industry analysts say the ProgressPlay case highlights the Commission’s focus on both anti-money laundering compliance and consumer protection. Regulators in Britain have placed increasing emphasis on the duty of operators to identify vulnerable customers, monitor betting patterns, and take action where necessary.
