Stan James hit by £80k fine from Gambling Commission
Kindred-owned sportsbook sanctioned by UKGC for social responsibility and money laundering failures
Stan James has been fined £80,000 by the Gambling Commission for social responsibility and money laundering failures.
The Gambling Commission investigated the Kindred-owned sportsbook after an individual, who was convicted of stealing from his employer, lost £40,000 of stolen money on Stan James Online between 2014 and 2016.
Stan James has been ordered to reimburse the customer’s employer for the stolen £40,000, as well as a £40,000 payment to the Commission in lieu of a heavier financial penalty.
The UKGC’s investigation, which was completed on October 29, found Stan James failed to comply with its regulations on two points: a failure to identify problem gambling behaviour and a failure to comply with financial requirements.
The Gambling Commission said in its report: “Between 1 November 2014 and 30 October 2016 the customer lost £40,000 with Stan James Online but during this period the social responsibility interactions were limited to emails containing social responsibility sign posting.
“The emails were triggered by purely monetary alerts and did not take the holistic view of the customers gambling activities that we would have expected.
“We take the view that inadequate policy and procedures were a contributory factor in the failure of the licensee to identify and effectively interact with the customer, especially given that in 2011 the customer had self-excluded from casino products.”
EGR contacted Kindred Group for a response and chief commercial officer Tommi Majala said: “Kindred Group has worked closely with the Gambling Commission in order to ensure full transparency and accept that there are areas that can be improved, and learnings have been implemented during 2017.
“Kindred Group is fully committed to running a sustainable business with a safe and secure gambling environment for our customers.
“This involves having responsible gambling tools available, providing clear information on our sites, working with researchers and experts, using a proprietary behaviour monitoring system and clear AML policies, to name a few.
“As a Group we continue to improve these processes every day.”