Gambling operator Entain is to pay £17m for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures, reports the UK’s Gambling Commission.
Entain Group will pay £14m for failures at its online business LC International Limited which runs 13 websites including ladbrokes.com, coral.co.uk and foxybingo.com.
It will also pay £3m for failures at its Ladbrokes Betting & Gaming Limited operation, which runs 2,746 gambling premises across Britain.
All £17m will be directed towards socially responsible purposes as part of a regulatory settlement, the UKGC said.
Additional licence conditions will also be added to ensure a business board member oversees an improvement plan, and that a third-party audit to review its compliance with the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice takes place within 12 months.
Andrew Rhodes, Gambling Commission chief executive, said: “Our investigation revealed serious failures that have resulted in the largest enforcement outcome to date.
“There were completely unacceptable anti-money laundering and safer gambling failures. Operators are reminded they must never place commercial considerations over compliance.
“This is the second time this operator has fallen foul of rules in place to make gambling safer and crime free.
“They should be aware that we will be monitoring them very carefully and further serious breaches will make the removal of their licence to operate a very real possibility. We expect better and consumers deserve better.”
In a statement the operator said that it had "entered into the regulatory settlement with the Commission in order to bring the matter to a close and avoid further costly and protracted legal proceedings.”
It accepted that certain legacy systems and processes supporting the operations of its British business during 2019 and 2020 were not in line with the evolving regulatory expectations of the Commission in respect to aspects of social responsibility and anti-money laundering safeguards.
Entain stressed that it had introduced an Advance Responsibility and Care tool in 2021 and was this year awarded the Advanced Safer Gambling Standard by GamCare.
The £17m settlement amount, it said, was already provided for in the group’s financial statements.
