Gambling Commission says the betting firm failed to protect consumers
Betting firm William Hill has been slapped with a £6.2m fine by gambling regulator for ‘systemic social responsibility and money laundering failures’. The penalty is the second biggest imposed by the regulator, after £7.8m fine against betting firm 888 in 2017.
According to the Gambling Commission, the company did not do enough to ensure prevention measures were effective, because of which 10 customers were able to deposit money linked to criminal offences and William Hill gained £1.2m between November 2014 and August 2016.
The regulator further said that William Hill did not seek information about the source of the funds and also “failed to mitigate risks and have sufficient numbers of staff to ensure their anti-money laundering and social responsibility processes were effective”.
The firm will pay a penalty of £5m and also return £1.2m to people affected by crime linked to the breaches.
Gambling Commission executive director Neil McArthur has said: “This was a systemic failing at William Hill which went on for nearly two years and today’s penalty package reflects the seriousness of the breaches.
“Gambling businesses have a responsibility to ensure that they keep crime out of gambling and tackle problem gambling – and as part of that they must be constantly curious about where the money they are taking is coming from.”
William Hill chief Philip Bowcock has told media: “We are fully committed to operating a sustainable business that properly identifies risk and better protects customers. We will continue to assist the Commission and work with other operators to improve practices in the areas identified.”
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