£825,000 fine for Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Limited

Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Limited, trading as Betfred, will pay £825,000 after a Commission investigation revealed social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.

The operator, which runs a number of betting shops, will also receive a warning and have to undergo a third-party audit to ensure it is effectively implementing its anti-money laundering and safer gambling policies, procedures and controls.

Anti-money laundering failures included:

• the licensee was unable to effectively identify and manage money laundering risks associated with customers using its B3 gaming machines. Whilst the licensee utilised machine alerts and daily reports, practices in place at the time of the assessment in 2024 meant the operator was unable to assess overall customer spend and the associated money laundering and terrorist financing risks
• the licensee did not have an effective policy in place to identify and handle any customers who may be subject to financial sanctions
• thresholds at which the operator made enquiries regarding customers’ source of income were not appropriately risk based, with thresholds set at £15,000 losses and at £125,000 stakes in 365 days.

Social responsibility failures included:

• the licensee could not adequately identify spend and any associated financial indicators of gambling harm for customers using B3 gaming machines
• customer interactions did not always take place following an identification of risk indicators, or when they did – interactions were not conducted in a way which minimised the risk of gambling related harm
• the quality of interactions, in particular understanding the impact of the interaction, did not to meet the standards required.

This is the second time Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Limited has faced regulatory action – in 2023 the operator paid a £3.25 million regulatory settlement for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.

John Pierce, Commission Director of Enforcement said:

“While the failings identified during the 2024 Compliance Assessment were predominantly technical breaches rather than arising from specific customer examples, they were nevertheless unacceptable, particularly with thresholds appearing too high and insufficiently risk based when assessed in practice, and deficiencies in some processes and procedures adopted by the Licensee.

“We fully acknowledge the improvements the operator has already made since these issues were identified, and the independent audit will be key to confirming these changes are sustained so that the operator continues to be fully compliant with social responsibility and anti-money laundering requirements.”

Read Done Brothers (Cash Betting) Limited full penalty.