Unibet operator fined £10m by Gambling Commission

The Gambling Commission has handed out one of its largest ever fines to Platinum Gaming Limited, the operator of unibet.co.uk and uk.bingo.com.

After multiple social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures were identified, the firm will have to pay a £10m ($13.3m) fine.

It is the second time the company has faced enforcement action, having been fined £2.9m in 2023 for similar infractions.

Though full details are omitted from the Gambling Commission notice, John Pierce, Commission Director of Enforcement, described the rule breaches as "particularly disappointing."

The social responsibility failures referred to in the statement generally point to a failure to prevent self-destructive gambling from players who ought to have been identified as being at risk of harm.

One player is said to have lost £5,000 within 24 hours of registration and was not flagged to the operator by its customer interaction system.

Another lost £31,000 over nine months, hitting their monthly loss limit six times and was not contacted.

John Pierce went on to say: "The case revealed serious shortcomings in customer interaction systems, including failures to identify and act on clear markers of harm. These included consumers losing thousands within hours or days of registration, repeatedly breaching loss limits, and exhibiting patterns of binge and high-velocity gambling without appropriate intervention."

On the anti-money laundering side, it seems that certain players whose accounts had previously been closed down over money laundering or terrorism financing concerns were later able to open new accounts and gamble.

The severity of the penalty suggests the problems were widespread and numerous, and on top of the £10m the company is now required to conduct a follow-up third-party audit, providing regular updates to the Commission.

2023 was the last time a larger fine was issued by the Gambling Commission in the UK, with the William Hill Group businesses then forced to pay a record £19.2m.

In that case, the failings followed a similar pattern to these faults.

Pierce concludes, saying: "Senior leaders must take ownership of compliance outcomes and ensure lessons are embedded across the organisation, supported by structured reporting and board level oversight - and further regulatory activity will remain a possibility."