Compliance Updates
Regulatory action against EU Lotto
A gambling business must pay a £760,000 fine and undergo extensive independent auditing after a Commission investigation revealed social responsibility and money laundering failures.
EU Lotto – which operates the lottoland.co.uk website – has also received a formal warning for the failures which occurred between October 2019 and November 2020.
Social responsibility requirement failures included neglecting to take into account the Commission’s formal customer interaction guidance.
Examples included:
- customers frequently changing deposit limits not being considered as markers of harm
- no evidence of suitable financial and affordability assessments being conducted to identify whether a customer was being harmed or at risk of harm
- customer interactions predominately consisted of an email detailing the responsible gambling tools available and did not require a customer response – there was little evidence of interactions being adapted depending on the extent of potential harm.
Anti-money laundering failures included:
- not effectively reviewing or analysing bank statements provided by customers to prove address
- not restricting customer accounts following source of funds (SoF) requests
- allowing customers to register third-party debit cards (such as those in a different name to the customer) to their account
- relying too heavily on ineffective threshold triggers and generally lacking information regarding how much a customer should be allowed to spend based on income, wealth or any other risk factors.
Helen Venn, Commission Executive Director, said: “This case, like other recent enforcement action, was the result of planned compliance activity. All operators should be very aware that we will not hesitate to take firm action against those who fail to meet the high standards we expect for consumers in Britain.”
Read EU Lotto’s full penalty on the Commission’s regulatory sanctions register.
Nigel Birrell, CEO of Lottoland commented: “Lottoland is fully committed to ensuring the highest standards of compliance, including its anti-money laundering and social responsibility obligations in all of the jurisdictions in which it operates. The Gambling Commission fine was related to legacy issues around some of our compliance controls which have now been addressed. Lottoland has extensive compliance measures in place and we are confident that our current policies and processes meet all relevant standards.
Remedial action taken included significantly increased investment in our compliance function, more than doubling headcount, alongside a host of other initiatives including bringing in third party support, enhancing training and a review of key policies. In addition, we recently committed to building our individual processes into an automated system to improve the system even further. “
Compliance Updates
Compliable Expands Licensing Offering to Europe and Latin America
Leading licensing management solution now supports new global markets
Leading compliance software provider Compliable is now supporting licensing in European and Latin American markets, further strengthening its proposition following a successful period of growth in the United States.
With experience of working with prominent industry brands including FanDuel, Bet365 and BetFanatics in North America, Compliable’s platform can now help companies complete, manage and maintain gaming licenses across multiple global jurisdictions.
Compliable is expanding into new markets at a time of increased regulatory obligations in numerous regions as well as a heightened demand from suppliers and vendors to get licensed from a reputational point of view.
Markets in Europe as well as emerging regions in Latin America are now supported by Compliable’s software solution, which enables operators and suppliers to enter new countries more quickly and reduces the ongoing burden of regulatory requirements.
Compliable’s software platform and tools provide customers both significant time and cost savings, as employees enter key information just once in the licensing process with the information then auto-populated across multiple forms, generating error-free applications every time.
The solution cuts the time it takes to get employees licensed by 90% to less than an hour, which has led to an increase of up to 700% in the number of employees that can be onboarded.
“Following discussions with our customers and prospects, it became clear that there is a demand for our market-leading licensing management solution outside of the United States and we are pleased to now be able to streamline the licensing process for even more companies in additional jurisdictions,” the Chief Executive Officer for Compliable, Chris Oltyan, said. “Licensing compliance can slow down your ability to expand into new markets but it doesn’t have to. Using our platform to remove bottlenecks in the acquisition and management of licenses frees up time and attention so our customers can focus on their go to market plans.”
Compliance Updates
ITIA: Croatian Official Suspended from Tennis
The International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA) confirmed that Croatian tennis official Marko Stojanovic has been suspended from the sport for five years and six months after admitting to breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Programme (TACP).
Stojanovic, a national-level official, admitted to 15 breaches of the TACP, including manipulating data from matches in which they were an official to facilitate betting.
Stojanovic, who is accredited at national level and has officiated at ITF tournaments, co-operated fully with the ITIA investigation and accepted an agreed sanction, waiving their right to a hearing before an independent Anti-Corruption Hearing Officer. Stojanovic has also been fined $25,000, of which $18,750 is suspended.
The official’s agreed sanction began on 19 February 2024 and will end at midnight on 18 August 2029.
During the suspension, Stojanovic is prohibited from officiating at, or attending any tennis event authorised or sanctioned by the members of the ITIA (ATP, ITF, WTA, Tennis Australia, Fédération Française de Tennis, Wimbledon and USTA).
The ITIA is an independent body established by its tennis members to promote, encourage, enhance and safeguard the integrity of professional tennis worldwide.
Compliance Updates
MGA Successfully Hosts its First Sports Betting Integrity Conference
The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has hosted its first Sports Betting Integrity Conference, further cementing the Authority’s dedication to fostering open dialogue, knowledge-sharing and maintaining a gaming landscape that is free from corruption and any form of unethical practices.
The event convened high-profile stakeholders integral to the sports betting integrity sector, including the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA), the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA), the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), the International Tennis Integrity Agency (ITIA), the eSports Integrity Commission (ESIC), Genius Sports and Sportradar.
Local stakeholders included the Malta Police Force, the Malta Football Association (MFA), the Authority for Integrity in Maltese Sports and the Office of the Attorney General.
Opening the conference, MGA CEO Charles Mizzi said: “As the MGA, ensuring the integrity of sports betting is not merely a regulatory obligation; it is a cornerstone of our commitment to fostering a fair and sustainable gaming environment.”
Mr Mizzi emphasised that the conference’s foremost objective was that of leading a united effort in addressing the complex challenges of maintaining integrity within sports and sports betting. As the industry continues to transform – introducing new technologies and increasingly sophisticated methods – success depends on the ability to share knowledge, experiences and best practices. Through this synergy, stakeholders can outpace those intent on corrupting the essence of sports and betting.
Such gatherings, therefore, serve as invaluable opportunities to pool resources and expertise, serving as catalysts for positive change. The Authority extends its gratitude to all attendees for their engagement and participation.
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