Smarkets has been hit with a £630,000 sanction after an investigation by the UK Gambling Commission revealed a series of anti-money laundering and social responsibility failings.
At the heart of the shortcomings was the firm’s processes when it comes to checking a customer’s source of funds.
The operator has also received a formal warning and will undergo an audit to ensure it is effectively implementing its anti-money laundering and social responsibility policies, procedures and controls.
Sarah Gardner, Commission Deputy CEO, said: “This case was identified through compliance checks and once again highlights how we will take action against gambling operators who fail their customers.
“Our investigation into Smarkets unearthed a variety of failures where customers were put at risk of gambling harm.
“It was obvious that poor systems and processes were in place which contributed to these breaches, driven by the company’s failure to effectively implement its policies and controls.”
Detailing how the operator has responded to the shortcomings, Smarkets CEO/Founder Jason Trost said: “We fully accept the UKGC’s findings following investigation of some of our former procedures. We have worked cooperatively with the Commission throughout the process and taken significant measures to implement their recommendations, investing substantially in our compliance function.
“We take our responsibility to have appropriate compliance policies in place extremely seriously. We will continue to work closely with the UKGC and other relevant stakeholders, and will take proactive steps in order to ensure further improvement to our procedures on an ongoing basis.”
