The UK Gambling Commission has levied a fine of £316,250 against white label operator TGP Europe for multiple anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility breaches. Along with the fine, the operator has received an official warning and additional conditions have been added to its license. These conditions outline the necessary steps the licensee must take to ensure thorough due diligence checks are conducted.
Despite cooperating with the Commission during the investigation and taking corrective measures to address the identified failures, the operator’s social responsibility shortcomings included allowing customers to continue gambling without intervention, even after triggering multiple safer gambling alerts. The Commission also alleged that TGP relied heavily on automated interactions with users when such alerts were triggered, without assessing their effectiveness or considering alternative approaches like telephone interactions.
Multiple White Label deals
With 19 websites operating under various white label deals, including those catering to the Asian market such as Leyubet.co.uk, Fun88.co.uk, and Oubao.co.uk, as well as running UK websites for crypto casinos like Stake.uk.com and Duelbits.co.uk, the business has been able to legally advertise and receive authorization to sponsor sports teams, despite the illegality of crypto betting under UK law.
Findings by the Commission
The Gambling Commission has underscored the business’s numerous anti-money laundering (AML) failures, including inadequate assessments of risks associated with false or stolen identification, as well as unusually large transactions linked to money laundering and terrorist financing. Furthermore, TGP, as a white label operator, was reprimanded for not sufficiently considering and mitigating the money laundering risks stemming from its B2B relationships. The Commission also noted the operator’s lack of effective policies and procedures for conducting due diligence before entering into white label agreements.
License review
The regulator, after conducting a thorough review of TGP’s license, has determined that the company has violated several specific sections of its license. These breaches encompassed the first, second, and third paragraphs of license condition 12.1.1, which pertains to anti-money laundering (AML) procedures, as well as license condition 12.12, which outlines AML provisions for operators based in foreign jurisdictions.
Additionally, the Commission noted that TGP has failed to comply with the social responsibility code of practice (SRCP) 3.4.1, which relates to customer interaction, and Ordinary code provision (OCP) 2.1.1, which concerns AML guidance.
