UK’s latest round of AML clampdowns point to issues other than tax hikes

There’s been a general consensus among gambling firms that it will be the higher taxes that lead to the consolidation of the UK market, but it might be something else that sends the cards tumbling over first – anti-money laundering (AML) and duty of care compliance.

The fallout of last year’s increase in gambling duties is already reverberating across the UK market, with jobs losses and betting shop closures now in the hundreds. Betfred, William Hill, Flutter and bet365 have all suffered as a consequence of the government’s fiscal policies targeting the gambling sector.

Still though, a hint of optimism remained throughout the 2026 financial reporting period, with major gambling PLCs in the UK seeing an opportunity to gain even more market share due to what they perceived to be higher tax ceiling squeezing smaller operators out of the equation.

Back in March, Super Group Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Neal Menashe said that he sees less competition in the market moving forward, particularly due to smaller operators not being able to afford to operate in the UK anymore.

Flutter UK and Ireland, owner of the Paddy Power and Betfair brands, also expressed a similar appetite to capitalise on any opportunities arising from the restructuring of the UK market.

Stella David, Entain’s CEO, was also quite vocal about a future where smaller operators get pushed under as a result of an increasingly taxing market: “If you look at the shape of the market, the bottom quarter of operators have around one percent share each,” she said. 

“They are simply not equipped to ride the storm of these tax increases. We believe that creates an opportunity for operators with scale to gain meaningful share.”

Not long after its merger that led to a significantly more exposure to the UK, Bally’s Intralot also painted a similar picture. CEO Robeson Reeves then said: “I think the large operators should see consolidation.

“People with high enough margins should be able to continue what they do. I think the long tail suffers sadly, and I’m a big fan of competition, but this market is one where competition will be reduced.”

Four major gambling companies, one idea shared across the board – the increased taxes will be directly responsible for the demise of small-to-medium operators. 

But there’s an ongoing trend pointing to something else running those companies into the ground first – AML compliance.

AML failures eating into sector’s diversity

In the span of a few weeks, three smaller gambling operators have been caught in the UK Gambling Commission’s crosshairs, all because of failures to fully comply with AML regulations.

The beginning of September saw Bet St George and BresBet both having their licences suspended following a Commission enquiry into their internal money laundering monitoring procedures.

At the time, BresBet had been operating its own online platform for just over a year, while the Bet St George offer was just six months old.

Just days following the suspensions, both companies decided to completely withdraw from the UK market and surrender their licences.

A third operator has now come under scrutiny, again over AML shortcomings. The Commission announced that Targetlocal, which operates the Ken Howells sports betting brand, has also been temporarily suspended.

While its retail presence has been around since the early 1960s, the South Wales operator launched its online platform with the help of EveryMatrix in 2025.

Despite the brand reassuring customers that it is doing everything it can to resolve the issue as soon as possible, the question of whether it will join the other two in surrendering its online licence remains up in the air.

It is worth noting that AML compliance is also putting pressure on big operators, becoming clearer as more companies put their H1 results out over the summer. 

For example, William Hill, Mr Green and 888 Group owner evoke’s H1 report lists “high compliance” costs alongside a number of “group tax risks” in the same sentence. 

As evoke is a company with a £182m market cap (at the time of writing) and is in the midst of a multi-hundred-million-pound takeover, it can be assumed that for Ken Howells, a company with £679,142 in retained reserves according to the latest Companies House filings, tax and compliance costs are even more pressing.

Ultimately, regardless of whether it boils down to a gap in compliance awareness or inability to keep up with compliance costs alongside tax increases, it is clear that AML struggles are eating into the diversity of the UK gambling sector as much as the new tax framework is.