SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
France’s national gambling regulator l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) has sanctioned seven unamend operators for exceeding the player return rate (TRJ) ceiling.
An ANJ investigation into French bookmakers activities in 2021 found that the seven in question had exceeded the TRJ rate, prompting the regulator to take the case to its Sanctions Committee.
The TRJ is an obligation of French gambling law requiring online sports betting operators in the country to redistribute no more than 85% of a player’s stake after customer engagement.
This functions as an anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing mechanism of the ANJ, and the regulator also asserts that the policy helps prevent ‘pathological’ gambling behaviour.
The Sanctions Committee agreed with the ANJ’s assessment that the seven firms had breached licence conditions, and the regulator subsequently issued a warning and financial penalty to each.
However, the ANJ added that the Sanctions Committee ‘decided not to accompany these sanctions with publicity measures’, and so the companies will remain unnamed.
The sanctions follow warnings issued by the ANJ to the French gambling sector as a whole earlier this month concerning anti-fraud capabilities, calling for improvement across three areas.
Operators were told to enhance alert systems to address risks, ensure personnel compliance with Anti-Money Laundering (AML) and Countering the Financing of Terrorism (CFT) procedures, and align procedures with targeted financial sanctions.
Earlier in the year, in its review of marketing strategies, the regulator urged French bookmakers to be vigilant when engaging in sponsorship arrangements with sports teams and influencers, whilst rejecting Française des jeux’s (FDJ) advertising and promotions plans for 2023.
