UK gambling regulators have reached a £1.3m settlement with licensee White Hat Gaming after the company’s approach to social responsibility (SR) and anti-money laundering (AML) was found wanting. 

On Thursday, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) announced the regulatory settlement with White Hat Gaming regarding its “inadequate” policies and procedures for identifying and managing customers deemed to be at a higher risk for problem gambling and money laundering.

The shortcomings involved seven customers’ accounts at four White Hat sites – Grandivy.com, 21Casino.com, Hellocasino.com and Dreamvegas.com – that emerged following a March 2019 UKGC compliance assessment. The following January, the UKGC notified White Hat that the regulator had commenced a review of its remote operating license. 

In one case, a customer lost £70k over a three-month span in 2018, after which White Hat created a customer intelligence report that eventually concluded the customer was sufficiently well-heeled to absorb these losses. However, White Hat failed to lock the customer’s account while it was identifying their source of funds (SOF), a move the company acknowledged was incorrect.