Online Gaming Operator Spreadex Fined Over $1.6M by the UKGC – Casino.Org News

Posted on: August 25, 2022, 10:35h.

Last updated on: August 25, 2022, 11:49h.

English Football League Championship soccer club Sunderland may be having second thoughts over its relationship with Spreadex, the financial trading and sports betting company. The company received a fine of 1.36 million (US$1.6 million) from the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) over a number of failings.

The UKs gaming regulator hit the company with a fine for anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility failings. Its the latest in a constant stream of fines the UKGC has levied against gaming companies, including the record $21-million fine it recently gave to Entain.

The UKGC has stated on several occasions that its going to step up its efforts to ensure operators comply with regulations. Since the beginning of the year, it has dished out more than $28 million in penalties.

Spreadex became Sunderlands shirt sponsor in July. Long before that, beginning in June of last year, the UKGC had already begun looking into the company. What it found was a series of shortcomings that breached the regulators guidelines.

The company didnt have mechanisms in place to properly alert it if gamblers spent too much money in too short a time. In addition, it wasnt properly monitoring accounts to determine if there were signs of problem gambling.

One example the UKGC gave was a user who deposited 1.7 million (US$2 million) and lost a quarter of that in less than a month. If Spreadex had followed the UKGCs recommended guidelines, it would have placed a limit on the account. Instead, it only contacted the customer to inquire about the activity and didnt follow up with any additional protocols.

On another occasion, Spreadex configured a users account to alert the company if deposits exceeded 25K (US$29,520). The individual later increased the amount to 100K (US$118,130). Subsequently, Spreadex only relied on open-source data to determine if the increase was legitimate.

Another individual continued making deposits after raising flags. Spreadex asked the user to provide additional verification of financial solvency, but only received redacted bank statements in return. Despite a lingering degree of uncertainty, no one at the company pushed for more clarity.

In addition, there were repeated examples of failings tied to AML, with the company lax in maintaining its AML procedures. As such, the UKGC accused it of violating a number of regulatory statutes.

After the UKGC notified Spreadex of the violations, it immediately took corrective action, according to the UKGC. That pacified the regulator, which authorized it to make the payment to a socially responsible organization.

This is in accordance with the UKGCs framework on regulatory compliance. In some cases, settling violations results in a payment in lieu of the financial penalty the [UKGC] might otherwise impose for breach of a license condition. However, its still a fine, as its a form of punishment the operator must pay.

The UKGC has threatened to take a stricter approach to enforcement. The agencys CEO, Andrew Rhodes, has warned that continued violations are a sign that operators arent taking the regulator seriously enough.

Leanne Oxley, the UKGCs Director of Enforcement and Intelligence, hinted at this as well. In the announcement about Spreadexs fine, she commented that it is disappointing that the regulator continues to see violations of the same rules by different operators.

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Online Gaming Operator Spreadex Fined Over $1.6M by the UKGC - Casino.Org News