Gambling Compliance tracker reports record breaking quarter for regulators

Online gambling regulators were busy in the first quarter of 2020, issuing a total of in excess of £25m in fines to just five online gambling operators between January and March.

This is a huge increase over penalties issued in previous years. Online gambling compliance tracker GamblingIndustryFines.com tracked a total of over £16m in fines doled out to iGaming operators for the whole of 2019.

The first fine of the year was issued in January by the Malta Gaming Authority – a £2M fine for Blackrock Media for “servicing unauthorized transactions”.

GVC Australia was up next on Valentine’s day – receiving a fine for £106k after two GVC brands, Ladbrokes and Neds – were found guilty of offering betting bonuses to people who opened new betting accounts – contrary to Australian law.

The same month, Mr Green was on the receiving end of a £3M fine from the UK Gambling Commission for systemic failings in its measures to stop money laundering and problem gambling.

The UKGC issued Betway with a record £11.6m fine in March as a settlement for accepting stolen money from high spending “VIP” customers, some of whom were displaying clear signs of gambling addiction.

The final regulator fine of the first quarter went to Kindred Group when Spooniker Ltd, a wholly owned subsidiary of Kindred Group received a warning and a sanction fee in the sum of SEK 100 million (USD 9,5m/£8.5m) by the Swedish Gambling Authority (SGA) for offering customers financial incentives which are in breach of the new gambling legislation.