Towards the end of 2017 the gambling commission had written to seventeen online casino companies. Flagging up the “serious nature” of its findings on their controls against money laundering, terrorist financing and problem gambling. As a result, the gambling commission are further looking into five UK casinos. This means for those five casinos, they may have their UK licence revoked and cease working in the UK.
Consequences
If a licence gets revoked, that’s when things get messy. Players will have to withdraw their money before a set deadline and it’s likely people will lose their jobs.Sarah Harrison, Gambling Commission Chief Executive, said: “It is vital that the gambling industry takes its duty to protect consumers and keep crime out of gambling seriously. The Gambling Commission’s new strategy sets out our vision for a fairer and safer gambling market. The action we are taking to examine online casino operators’ compliance with money laundering and customer interaction requirements is just one example of how we will be relentless in turning that vision into reality. ”These concerns included a number of companies hiring money laundering reporting officers with formal qualifications and who were “unable to provide suitable explanations as to what constitutes money laundering”.
Stricter Regulations
The gambling commission have also voiced concern about there being a general lack of understanding of how criminal spend could affect business. Another concern raised was firms not submitting enough information about suspicious activity to law enforcement agencies such as the national Crime Agency.The mounting pressure on gambling firms has lead to stricter regulations in place but the demand for more is still there.What do you the players think about gambling firms? And what role should they be playing in society?