Smarkets, a revolutionary sports betting company based in London will pay the United Kingdom Gambling Commission fine of £630,000 after the regulator found gross social responsibility and anti-money laundering failings. The investigation found customers were able to deposit large sums of money without sufficient background checks and failed to interact with customers who were showing signs of gambling-related harm.
Fine and Audit
The operator will now pay the fine and be subjected to an audit to ensure compliance checks are completed efficiently, along with anti-money laundering policies, procedures, and controls. One example of Smarkets failings saw a customer deposit £395,000 over a four-month period, without following social responsibility policies, funding checks, and intervention. Another customer transferred huge levels of funds between accounts with very little intervention or funding checks carried out. 
Poor Systems and Processes
UKGC CEO Sarah Gardner 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 failings where customers were put at risk of gambling-related harm. “It’s 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.” This is yet another case of gross failings and comes as a stark warning to operators that the UKGC will continue its investigations and issue enforcements and fines for non-compliance with license policies and controls. Only weeks ago Leovegas received a fine of £1.32m for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failings.