SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has summoned a penalty of £672,000 on the licence of NSUS Limited.
The penalty, ordered on 22 September, relates to social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) failures registered by NSUS, the operating company of GGPoker UK.
The company is reported to have failed on its social responsibility duties to identify and engage with customers who are at risk of experiencing gambling harms.
The Commission’s report detailed that NSUS had failed to take reasonable steps to prevent marketing material being sent to self-excluded customers – in which the company is alleged to have sent promotional emails to 125 self-excluded customers.
Further AML failings included NSUS being unable to conduct adequate risk assessments of its business being used for money laundering and terrorist financing.
The UKGC further underlined that NSUS did not ensure that it had the appropriate policies, procedures and controls to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing.
NSUS, which operates in the UK under the ggpoker.co.uk domain, has also received an official warning for the breaches of its licensing conditions.
The UKGC continues its heightened monitoring of online gambling licensees on social responsibility, customer care and AML duties.
2022 regulatory actions have included a record £17m penalty issued to Entain Plc and a sanction of £9.5m handed to 888 Holdings.
At the start of the year, UKGC Chief Executive Andrew Rhodes warned industry leadership of a tougher approach to monitoring licensee conduct, in which the regulator would ‘no longer tolerate repeat offenders’.
