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After an investigation uncovered a violation of social responsibility and anti-money laundering practices, the UKGC fined TGP Europe £316,250. The operator, who runs 19 sites, including well-known ones like 8XBet.co.uk, betvision.com, 12Bet.uk, and stake.uk.com., was issued a formal warning and had conditions placed on its licence.
Unlike sites listed at the NonGamstopSites.bet, which are lying outside the UKGC jurisdiction. Sites that are within the authority’s reach are eligible for penalisation and excessive regulations.
The UKGC is a prestigious licencing body tasked with regulating and supervising the gambling industry in the United Kingdom. It’s known for its strict gaming regulations, and has the authority to penalise its licenced companies that don’t comply with those rules. Unfortunately, TGP Europe fell into its bad books.
TG Europe is a White Label company that provides a customised gambling platform to business owners. It operates with a licence from the UKGC, but has unfortunately failed to keep up with the commission’s stringent gambling laws. In this text, we dive into more details about the fine and what the next steps are for the White Label Company.
Just as 10Bet was fined £620,000 for violating certain sections of the UKGC’s gambling law, TGP Europe was also charged a six-figure fine. This was after a review of the licensee operations, where the commission discovered that the operator had violated several social responsibility practices and had failed to implement anti-money laundering policies to prevent fraudulent activities.
According to the United Kingdom Gambling Commission, the licensee failed to comply with paragraphs 1 through 3 of licence condition 12.1.1, which state that the licensee must take all necessary measures to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing. This includes apprehending users who present fake or stolen identification documents and curbing the risks associated with complicated or exceptionally large transactions.
The investigation uncovered another breach of the licence condition 12.1.2, which outlines the safeguards gambling businesses based in foreign jurisdictions must implement to protect their operations and customers. TGP Europe Limited also violated Ordinary Code Provision 2.1.1, which offers guidelines on anti-money laundering and its prevention.
The Commission found that the operator failed to comply with the Social Responsibility Code of Practice (SCRP) 3.4.1, which concerns interactions with customers. It noted that it allowed customers to continue gambling even after receiving repeated safety warnings. The operator also used automated responses instead of people to respond to clients who had activated safe gambling alerts. The UKGC pointed out that the operator failed to assess the effectiveness of these customer interactions to determine if further steps, like a phone interaction, were necessary.
A formal warning was issued under Section 117(1)(a) of the UK Gambling Act 2005, and further licence conditions were attached under Section 117(1)(b). The operator also received a fine of £316,250 under Section 121 of the same Act. These measures were implemented in accordance with the UKGC’s Statement of Principles for assessing financial penalties and its Indicative Sanctions Advice, as well as the UKGC’s Licencing, Compliance, and Enforcement Policy Statement.
The UK regulator stated that the licensee’s cooperation with investigators and corrective actions taken to rectify the observed deficiencies were taken into account when deciding the measures against the company.
The mission of the gambling commission is to protect players and ensure they enjoy a fair gambling experience. It works to prevent crimes and stop gambling companies from exploiting minors.
The Commission can deal with violations and non-compliance by licensees in multiple ways. It could launch a licence review following Section 116 of the Gambling Act 2005, which can result in a penalty like the suspension or revocation of a licence. The gambling regulator can also reach regulatory settlements, which comprise one of the following:
For TGP Europe, the latter was the case because the operator only violated its anti-money laundering guidance law and social responsibility code of practice.
TGP Europe isn’t the first operator to be slapped with a fine. As noted, 10Bet was fined £620,000 for similar violations as TGP Europe. Sky Bet was fined $1.17 million in March 2022 for sending promotional emails to those who had self-excluded from gambling. That same month, after discovering social responsibility and money laundering violations, the Commission issued a £9.4 million fine to 888. These fines demonstrate that the UKGC is serious about punishing licenced businesses that don’t comply with its regulations.
The United Kingdom Gambling Commission will keep a close eye on the gambling operator to ensure that it takes effective measures against the breaches that were discovered. It will monitor the operator’s activities to confirm that it complies with the restrictions placed on its licence.
So, in addition to paying a six-figure fine, TGP Europe must put on its best behaviour. It must take the necessary steps to prevent a recurrence of a licence review, as this could harm its reputation and cause a loss of customers.
This time, the operator was only slapped with a fine and a few restrictions. A repeat of the same violations might attract a heavier fine or criminal investigation, leading to legal proceedings. In a worst-case scenario, the business will lose its licence.
The UKGC’s strict rules are to ensure that players are not cheated when having fun on these platforms. It prevents the growth of scam sites in the UK gambling market and curbs the likelihood of more punters becoming addicted to gambling.
To further protect customers, the UKGC keeps setting new rules. Its most recent addition became effective in September 2022, requiring operators to identify gambling harms, take timely action to prevent them, and avoid marketing new bonuses to at-risk customers, among others.