Stakers Ltd., a Swiss-based gambling operator working under a UK gaming license, has its license suspended by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) this week. It’s the third time this year the increasingly aggressive UKGC has taken such an action concerning one of their licensees.
Details of the Stakers Ltd. suspension are currently pretty vague and no specific charges have been laid on the company. As it stands today, UKGC officials are saying only, “We suspect that Stakers Limited has breached a condition of the licence (section 116(2)(a) of the Act)) and is unsuitable to carry on the licensed activities (section 116(2)(c)(i)) of the Act). We, therefore, consider it appropriate to suspend the licence with immediate effect pending the conclusion of the review.”
In short, it seems as though UKGC investigators have found something at the company that they’re very interested in learning more about, and are launching an investigation. What, exactly, that investigation involves is something that the Commission has not yet announced.
Regardless of what the UKGC is investigating them for, Stakers is dead in the water when it comes to its regulated UK operations. The company is not allowed to accept wagers from UK citizens on that particular site, though the players are free to remove their funds. (And since Stakers Ltd. is also licensed in Malta, players who really, truly feel they have to wager with the company still have the option to do so.)
This is, no doubt, not the end of this story and likely not the last time the UKGC will suspend a license this year.