Law360, Expert Analysis: The Gambling Commission’s recent anti-money laundering fine against online gambling giant, Betway Limited (Betway), illustrates that companies subject to the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 (MLR 2017), SI 2017/692 must adopt a risk-based compliance approach that concentrates resources and focus into their highest-risk areas, say Kevin Roberts, Mark Beardsworth and Duncan Grieve, lawyers at Cadwalader.

The Gambling Commission has announced that a 40-year-old individual, Haydon Simcock, has been sentenced by Birmingham Magistrates’ Court to a 30-week suspended jail term, 200 hours of community service and 20 hours rehabilitation for running an illegal WhatsApp gambling business and failing to pay a customer’s £269,000 balance. Simcock admitted providing and advertising unlawful gambling without an operating licence between May 2023 and September 2024. He is also required to pay £230,000 compensation and £60,000 Gambling Commission costs.

Vivaro Limited, trading as ‘vbet’, will be paying a £337,631 regulatory settlement after investigations found a series of failings in the company’s processes to prevent money laundering and promote safer gambling. The Gambling Commission announced that proceeds from this settlement will be allocated to socially responsible causes.

Gambling Commission has announced that Blue Star Planet Limited, which trades as 10Bet, has been fined £620,000 for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures. Gambling Commission has said that the money will be paid as a settlement and will go to socially responsible causes.

The Gambling Commission has charged 15 individuals with cheating offences under section 42 of the Gambling Act 2005, following an investigation into bets placed on the 2024 General Election timing. The investigation, which began in June 2024, examined the alleged use of confidential information about the election date. The defendants are scheduled to appear at Westminster magistrates' court on 13 June 2025. The Commission notes this case is separate from a previous Metropolitan Police investigation into related matters.

The Gambling Commission has published its response to its January 2025 consultation on proposed changes to the Gaming Machine Technical Standards (GMTS), Gaming Machine Testing Strategy and Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). The Commission has confirmed new requirements intended to make gaming machines fairer and safer for consumers, including improved access to gambling management tools and sessional information on new category B gaming machines, requirements preventing new category A, B and C gaming machines from celebrating awards below the stake size and from allowing features that reduce the time until a result is known. Existing gaming machines will generally be exempt from the new requirements due to the technical changes and associated costs involved. The changes will be introduced in stages, with a new ‘session’ definition to come into force on 30 March 2027, most other changes on 30 June 2027 and staff alert elements on 3 October 2028.

The Gambling Commission has issued its fortnightly regulatory update, confirming that from 19 March 2026, operators must comply with updated Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice relating to financial key event reporting. The changes are intended to reflect the increasing complexity of mergers and acquisitions, as well as globalised ownership structures, and to ensure the Commission receives timely and accurate information regarding licensees’ finances, interests and control arrangements. The update also notes the Commission’s publication, on 26 February 2026, of two sets of official statistics covering the period from July to September 2025: the quarterly industry statistics and Wave 3 of the Gambling Survey for Great Britain. In addition, it refers to an ongoing evaluation of the Gambling Act Review, noting that operators are being invited to participate in a voluntary survey and interviews conducted by NatCen. The Commission and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport are seeking insights into consumer impact and commercial effects. The update further reminds casinos that businesses providing Money Service Business activities must be registered with HMRC under the Money Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, SI 2017/692.

The Gambling Commission has reported that Bet365 has been fined £582,120 for failing to adhere to social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) practices. Hillside (UK Gaming) ENC will pay £343,035 and Hillside (UK Sports) ENC will pay £239,085. Social responsibility failures included not having meaningful customer interactions, an ineffective Early Risk Detection System and not ensuring customers had read and understood information or advice provided. Anti-money laundering failures included having ineffective customer due diligence, failing to complete financial sanctions checks on new customers, failing to complete independent verification checks and having inadequate customer risk profiling. The entire £582,120 will be given to socially responsible causes as part of a regulatory settlement with the Gambling Commission.

The Gambling Commission has fined Bonne Terre Limited, trading as Sky Betting and Gaming, for £1.17m for sending out promotional emails and marketing to customers who had opted out of receiving marketing or self-excluded. The Gambling Commission provided that the operator breached licence conditions aimed at ensuring gambling is socially responsible in Britain when it distributed a promotional offer of ‘Bet £5 get 100 free spins’ to 41,395 self-excluded customers and 249,159 customers that had unsubscribed from marketing emails.

The Gambling Commission has fined Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Limited, trading as Betfred, £825,000 following a compliance assessment that identified Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and social responsibility breaches. The operator failed to implement effective controls to manage money laundering risks linked to B3 gaming machines and set thresholds for source-of-income checks at £15,000 in losses or £125,000 in stakes over a 12-month period, which the Gambling Commission deemed insufficiently risk-based. The assessment also revealed shortcomings in detecting and acting on indicators of gambling harm, with customer interactions often delayed or of poor standard. In addition to the financial penalty, Done Brothers received a formal warning and must undergo an independent third-party audit to ensure improvements are sustained. This enforcement action follows a £3.25m settlement in 2023 by Done Brothers for similar failings.

The Gambling Commission has imposed a £1m fine on Greentube Alderney Limited, trading as Admiral Casino, following an investigation that revealed significant failings in social responsibility and anti-money laundering measures. This marks the second instance of regulatory action against the operator, who previously paid £685,000 in 2021 for similar breaches. The Commission identified specific failures, including inadequate implementation of policies on customer limits and document verification, delayed identification of vulnerability indicators and insufficient scrutiny of customer information. The regulator emphasised that repeat offenders should expect increasingly stringent enforcement action, particularly for anti-money laundering violations. Greentube Alderney Limited is required to swiftly implement an action plan to address all identified failings.

The Gambling Commission has imposed a £2m penalty on four Paddy Power Betfair licensees following a compliance assessment that found failures in social responsibility controls relating to customer interaction. The subsequent licence review determined that the licensees had not complied with key requirements of Social Responsibility Code Provision 3.4.3, as their systems did not sufficiently identify or act on indicators of gambling-related harm. Customers were permitted to make substantial deposits, stake large sums at speed and gamble for extended periods, including overnight, without timely manual review or effective intervention. In several cases, interactions occurred only after loss-based triggers were reached, and automated processes were not escalated when strong indicators of harm were evident.