The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) have stated that heftier fines and an increased risk of operators losing licenses will be put into place through 2017 in the latest effort to tackle the issues of problem gambling and money laundering.The new enforcement strategy will be laid out in detail to the public later this month, and is expected to work on a more specific, case-by-case basis instead of what UKGC chief executive Sarah Harrison refers to as the “blanket approach” that has been taken towards such issues thus far.
Raise your ambitions
After taking over as chief executive in 2015, Ms Harrison has called for a more proactive approach, telling companies that it is necessary to “raise your ambitions and set your sights higher” by increasing the “pace of change” to match the pace of growth within the iGaming market.This new enforcement strategy seems to be the newest way that the UKGC is trying to ensure that operators take these requests seriously. 
Lengthy cases
One of the biggest issues through 2016 was long, drawn out cases that ultimately reached voluntary settlements. Paddy Power settled for £280,000 for encouraging a problem gambler irresponsibly, and Betfred settled for a larger sum, £800,000, after admitting they have failed to “implement proper anti-money laundering controls” which resulted in the theft of money from a VIP customer.The plan now is to deal with each case individually, with “repeated failings” by one operator being subject to “higher penalties.”The main innovation on this topic that Ms Harrison has announced is time-capped settlements, meaning that if a company intentionally delays a case subject to higher penalties than if they had immediately agreed to payment.The outcome of these changes is hoped to be a more consistent system that penalises those who have not taken the issues of problem gambling and money laundering into account sufficiently.