Gambling Commission fines Ladbrokes Coral £5.9m

The UK Gambling Commission have imposed a penalty of £5.9m on Ladbrokes Coral due to systematic failings.  It was also stated that there could be further fines as they continue their investigations.

During the period between November 2014 and October 2017, it was found that the operators Ladbrokes and Coral, who were separate companies at the time, failed to safeguard their customers from gambling harm and also to prevent money laundering. They formed a merger in November 2016 and the failings still continued.

GVC who are the owners of the Ladbrokes Coral Group have agreed that they will pay £4.8m which will be made in lieu of a financial penalty, as well as forfeiting £1.1m towards the victims of crime.

GVC have also committed to overhauling and improving their responsible gaming and social responsibility processes with their customers.

Going forward

Commenting on the penalty package Kenneth Alexander, GVC CEO, said: “Soon after the acquisition of Ladbrokes Coral following meetings and ongoing enquiries by the Gambling Commission, it became clear to GVC that there had been historic compliance failures within certain areas of the operations.

“Working closely with the Gambling Commission and an independent firm of solicitors, GVC facilitated a thorough, prompt and far-reaching investigation, which has led to today’s settlement.

“These historical failings were unacceptable and since the acquisition, I have overseen a systematic review of the enlarged Group’s player protection procedures and the individuals responsible for these problems have exited the business. I am confident that, we now have in place a robust and industry leading approach to player protection.”