UKGC Fines ProgressPlay £1M Following AML and RG Shortcomings

While conducting a routine audit, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) found ProgressPlay to be failing in its responsibilities regarding the anti-money laundering and social responsibility policies, procedures, and controls required by the regulator.

During its review, the UKGC found that ProgressPlay didn’t have effective systems in place to monitor customer activity at the point of account opening, making it harder to identify and address any potential risks early on. The business’ anti-money laundering breaches consisted of not conducting an adequate risk assessment and not implementing appropriate controls to minimise the risk.

ProgressPlay’s interactions policy reportedly also failed to meet the requirements outlined in the LCCP, as the impacts of individual interactions on customer behaviour were not being considered, increasing the potential for further harms.

The UKGC have requested that the company, responsible for 134 sites, be subjected to a third-party audit to ensure it is effectively protecting its players and fulfilling its obligations regarding the prevention of financial crimes.

The £1m fine is the largest UKGC enforcement since its £2m action against Spreadex in May for similar AML and Responsible Gambling breaches. ProgressPlay was previously fined £175,718 back in 2022 for related failures and the UKGC policy stands to increase financial penalties for repeat offenders.

“Operators should be in no doubt: repeated regulatory breaches will result in increasingly severe enforcement action,” John Pierce, the UKGC director of enforcement and intelligence, warned. “This case marks the second time ProgressPlay Limited has been subject to enforcement action by the Gambling Commission. Its failure to meet AML obligations, along with the gaps identified in its social responsibility processes, are unacceptable.”

Pierce urged businesses to use this case as an example and conduct internal reviews to identify any areas where systems and controls could be strengthened and ensure they are fully compliant with the UKGC regulations.

With these repeated breaches ProgressPlay is now under a spotlight, and hopefully we will see them enact serious changes to remain compliant, or else they might risk losing their licence entirely.