The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is hitting In Touch Games with a massive £6.1 million ($7.5 million USD) fine for a slew of social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) failures. In Touch Games’ huge fine not only reflects how seriously the UKGC is taking its responsibilities these days, it also reflects the fact that this is not the company’s first go-round with the Commission.
Commissioners found that In Touch Games, which operates 11 UK-facing sites including Bonusboss.co.uk, Drslot.co.uk, Cashmo.co.uk and Slotfactory.co.uk, had violated social responsibility regulations by failing to follow up on red flag customers in a timely manner. The company was also charged with failing to verify player funding sources in a meaningful manner.
On the AML side, the Commission’s report found that In Touch Games was to be not only in violation of UK rules, but also of failing to enforce its own policies on a consistent basis. One example included a case of a player who deposited $10,000 over 12 months without verifying the source of the funds.
Unfortunately for In Touch Games, the size of the fine they were hit with is a reflection of an ongoing failure to address social responsibility and AML issues. This is actually the third large fine the company’s received from the Commission in just the past four years which include a £2.2 million ($2.71 million USD) settlement in 2019 and a £3.4 million ($4.1 million USD) fine and warning in 2021.
That unfortunate track record was more than enough for the Commission’s Executive Director of Operations, Kay Roberts, who summed up the whole situation in a recent press release saying, “Considering this operator’s history of failings we expected to see significant improvement when we carried out our planned compliance assessment. Disappointingly, although many improvements had been made, there was still more to do.
“This £6.1m fine shows that we will take escalating enforcement action where failures are repeated and all licensees should be acutely aware of this.”