The UK Gambling Commission have once again pulled no punches in its fight against anti-money laundering and social responsibility failings, levying a mammoth £7.1 million fine at Daub Alderney, a subsidiary of Stride Gaming. The operator will also have restrictions placed on its gambling license.
Gambling Commission Executive Director Richard Watson said in the wake of the decision that “The operator’s standards did not match the protections required, and this fine reflects the seriousness of these lapses.”
Following a thorough corporate evaluation of Daub Alderney’s operations, the Commission found multiple limitations in the firm’s ability to “proactively identify and mitigate risk.” It uncovered numerous breaches, including that Daub Alderney did not monitor business relationships appropriately, that they did not apply “sufficient enhanced customer due diligence”, that they did not keep full records of evidence and supporting documents related to due diligence checks, that it did not set up and maintain appropriate “policies and procedures” related to AML and terrorist financing, and that it did not provide regular training on those two areas.
Alongside with the fine, the Commission will now require Daub Alderney to appoint a Money Laundering Reporting Officer with a PML license who will take regular annual refresher training, as well as engaging external auditors, in agreement with the Commission, who will examine and report on the regular reviews the firm will from now on make into its AML and SR policies and procedures.
This is the latest in a string of recent major penalties imposed on firms, and part of the Commission’s remit to impose strict enforcement of regulations governing the industry.
