More Fines and Regulatory Action from the Gambling Commission

By Simon Wright, Last updated Jul 1, 2023

The UK Gambling Commission have this week taken action against a licence holder that has been found to have failings when it comes to their social responsibilities and also with regards to their anti-money laundering procedures, with In Touch Games Limited being hit with a £3.4m fine and also an official warning from the UKGC.

The Gambling Commission who earlier this week saw their Chief Executive Neil McArthur depart, announced on Wednesday that In Touch Games Limited, who under their UKGC licence operate the following sites; bonusboss.co.uk, cashmo.co.uk, casino.mfortune.co.uk, casino2020.co.uk, drslot.co.uk, mfortune.co.uk, mrspin.co.uk, pocketwin.co.uk and slotfactory.com.

The social responsibility failings identified included:

• Stating in its Responsible Gambling Team interaction guidance that a bonus may be offered if a customer provides identification.
• Not putting into effect its policies and procedures for customer interaction for seven customers where it had concerns that a customer’s activity may indicate problem gambling.
• Not using all relevant sources of information to ensure effective decision making, and to guide and deliver effective customer interactions for those seven customers. If the Licensee had followed its policy it should have given more consideration to placing mandatory limits on customer accounts.

Additionally the anti-money laundering failings by In Touch Games Limited were identified as follows:

• Having a risk assessment which did not take into account the risk of allowing customers to use a payment provider which also acts as an exchange for crypto-currencies.
• Neglecting to conduct appropriate levels of Enhanced Customer Due Diligence
• Failing to critically review Source of Funds information once it was requested.

Furthermore In Touch Games Limited have been instructed to employ at their own expense a team of independent auditors to carry out a full audit of their operations, to ensure that they comply with the UKGC’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice.

Speaking about the action taken against In Touch Games Limited, Richard Watson from the Gambling Commission stated: “Through our challenging compliance and enforcement activity we will continue our work to raise standards in the industry and continue to hold failing operators to account.”

The action taken against In Touch Games Limited has been added to the UKGC’s ‘Regulatory Sanctions Register’, which you are able to view in full here.

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