UKGC Penalizes Kindred’s Platinum Gaming and 32Red

The UK Gambling Regulatory bodies are tightening the screws on businesses failing to adopt gaming legislation as mandated. Kindred Group recently faced major penalties for their oversight in responsibility, with 32Red and Platinum Gaming bearing significant fines.

The UK Gambling Commission has charged 32Red and Platinum Gaming, both under Kindred Group's umbrella, for breaches in social accountability anti-money laundering and as a consequence, a hefty £7.1 million fine was imposed upon them.

Kindred has acknowledged these errors, affirming that replicating such lapses is 'unlikely' with their revamped systems. 32Red, managing 32red.com, will remit £4.2 million and Platinum Gaming, responsible for unibet.co.uk, owes £2.9 million. Both entities have been served official censure from the Commission.

The organization pointed fingers at 32Red for disregarding their social duty, highlighting their failure to spot and assist customers gambling-related harm prior to irreversible losses, such as one case where a customer deposited £43,000 and lost £36,000 within a single week.

The UKGC critiqued that although the activity logs at 32Red were existent, they were shallow and lacked comprehensive assessment. 32Red was called out for merely taking customers at their word on their comfort with gambling activity and financial capability.

Additionally, the UK Gambling Commission discovered flaws within 32Red’s anti-money laundering frameworks. Their criteria for AML reviews were too elevated, failing to suitably tackle threats.

The firm was scrutinized for deficient control measures, allowing unchecked gambling without insight into customer’s financial backgrounds. Besides, customers flagged for fund source inquiry generally faced no restrictions on gambling continuance.

On the other hand, criticisms were made about Platinum Gaming’s inability to correctly discern if a single individual had multiple account holders. As pointed by the UKGC, individuals self-excluding or those obstructed on 32Red had paths to Platinum Gaming. Furthermore, the company fell short in detecting and engaging with customers showing potential gambling harms.

According to Kay Roberts, an executive director at the Commission, these infractions illustrate that the operators haven’t adequately shielded their clients from probable gambling-associated harm.

“Our probe evidenced that policies and processes were neglected, both in customer account systems and anti-money laundering schemes. Overall, it's a cautionary scenario all gambling entities should heed to assure client safety is a priority,” Roberts stated.