William Hill betting company receives record fine of over £19 million for ‘failings’

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 William Hill record fine by the Gambling Commission

A total of three gambling firms owned by William Hill have been slapped with £19.2 million in fines by the Gambling Commission. The Commission has handed out the fines for failing to protect consumers as well as the company having weak anti-money laundering controls.

It has been reported that the issues within the firm were of such severity that the commission had considered suspending their licence. This comes after one customer was allegedly able to open a brand new account and spend £23,000 in less than half an hour without the firm making any checks.

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According to the BBC, the commission also found examples of how the firm had failed to guard against possible money laundering. They reported that one customer was able to “spend and lose £70,134 in a month, while another deposited £73,535 and lost £14,068 in four months.”

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Andrew Rhodes, chief executive of the Gambling Commission said: "When we launched this investigation the failings we uncovered were so widespread and alarming serious consideration was given to licence suspension. However, because the operator immediately recognised their failings and worked with us to swiftly implement improvements, we instead opted for the largest enforcement payment in our history."

A spokesperson for 888, owners of William Hill, said: “The settlement relates to the period when William Hill was under the previous ownership and management. After William Hill was acquired, the company quickly addressed the identified issues with the implementation of a rigorous action plan.

“The entire Group shares the GC’s commitment to improve compliance standards across the industry and we will continue to work collaboratively with the regulator and other stakeholders to achieve this.”

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