BetVictor to Pay $2.7 Million After Rule Breaches

BetVictor has been hit with a £2 million (US$2,715,620) regulatory action by the Gambling Commission after an investigation revealed fairness, social responsibility, and money laundering failures.

The operator will pay the money as part of a settlement with the commission, the money going to the National Strategy to Reduce Gambling Harms.

The Gambling Commission began a regulatory review of BV Gaming—the company which trades as BetVictor and runs betvictor.com, betvictor.mobi, hbingo.co.uk, heartbingo.co.uk, and parimatch.co.uk—in April 2020 after a compliance assessment.

It found failings in the company's processes which were aimed at preventing money laundering and protecting vulnerable people.

Among the money-laundering rule breaches made by the company were not adequately including risk factors, such as high spenders or consumers using multiple gambling accounts or wallets.

The commission also said there was no evidence of effective due diligence in the majority of the customer accounts reviewed and that, due to ineffective triggers, certain reviewed customers were able to deposit and spend large sums of money before the source of funds and affordability were established.

There was an over-reliance on automated thresholds to request source of funds, the commission said, and that although there was evidence of regular meetings taking place, specifically looking at the top 25 high-risk customers, they did not see evidence of any continuous monitoring of customers unless they hit the thresholds.

The commission said the extent of steps taken to remedy the breach by BV Gaming, the early recognition of failings, and co-operation with the regulator, had been mitigating factors.

Gambling Commission director of enforcement Leanne Oxley said: "As a gambling regulator our focus is on ensuring that gambling in Britain is fair, safe, and crime-free, and BetVictor failed consumers by breaching rules aimed at achieving these objectives.

"Non-compliance—no matter what the reason—will never be a viable business option for gambling businesses. We will always be tough on operators who fail in this way."