The company that own Ladbrokes Coral has been issued a fine of £5.9 million for failing to protect vulnerable customers and for failing in its anti-money laundering duty.
The Gambling Commission stated that over a three-year period, Ladbrokes Coral failed to put in place effective safeguards that would “prevent customers suffering gambling harm”.
As part of its verdict, it citied one customer who had lost £98,000 and had asked Coral to stop sending further promotional communication. This customer had 460 attempted deposits declined but were still able to lose this sum of money two and a half years later.
Another customer spent over £1.5million over three years, accessing their account 10 times a day and losing £64,000 in a four-week period. Yet despite this, nothing was done to prevent them from accessing the site.
The Commission stated that Coral “did not ask the customer to evidence their source of funds and could not provide evidence of any social responsibility interactions being carried out”.
However, the firm failed to carry out “social responsibility interactions”.
The problems are said to have occurred between November 2014 and October 2017, after GVC Holdings had bought Ladbrokes Coral.
As a result, they will now pay £4.8 million and divest £1.1million “gained from customers as a result of failings”.
Richard Watson, executive director of the Gambling Commission, said: “These were systemic failings at a large operator which resulted in consumers being harmed and stolen money flowing though the business and this is unacceptable.”
July 31, 2019
July 18, 2019
Kenyan Govt orders deportation of 17 foreign betting firm directors
It will be a long trip back home for 17 foreign directors of betting firms whose licences were not renewed after the government pushed its crackdown on the gambling industry a notch higher by ordering their deportation.
On Tuesday night, the Immigration department began flying home some of the foreign nationals whom sources told the Nation were detained in the hours after Interior CS Fred Matiang’i signed the order shortly after 2pm.
The decision was reached after the National Security Advisory Committee (NSAC), with the blessings of President Uhuru Kenyatta, decided there would be no backing down on the war against rogue betting companies.
This is after what has been a week of high octane open warfare fought in the courts, in public through tough statements and advertisements punctuated by back-room lobbying and arm-twisting failed to bring the State and betting companies to the negotiating table.
According to sources, among those deported on Tuesday were directors from Bulgaria, Italy, Russia and Poland.
The deportation orders said that those sent back home were in Kenya illegally since the licences of the companies they were running were cancelled.
The orders also said that whatever they were doing was in contravention of their work permits.
The Interior ministry refused to disclose the names of those deported citing security concerns.
“This is still an ongoing operation so we won’t disclose their names for now because those being deported have to be arrested first,” Interior spokesperson Wangui Muchiri told the Nation.
On Tuesday morning, banks started to freeze the accounts which are thought to hold billions of shillings following an order by CBK on Monday night.
And that’s not all. In what was a very fluid day SportPesa, Betin and Betpawa moved to court seeking to reverse an earlier decision by the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) to block their paybill numbers and short codes.
In separate suits, the firms asked High Court judge Weldon Korir to hold BCLB bosses for contempt for putting their businesses at risk of being arrested for operating without a licence.
They also faulted the BCLB for blocking the paybills despite the pending legal battle in court.
However, justice Korir declined to heed to their pleas on wanting BCLB bosses punished over the issues they were protesting about.
Instead, he ordered that the betting board together with telcos Safaricom and Airtel be allowed time to respond to the case first before any punishment is imposed on them.
On Tuesday night, the Immigration department began flying home some of the foreign nationals whom sources told the Nation were detained in the hours after Interior CS Fred Matiang’i signed the order shortly after 2pm.
The decision was reached after the National Security Advisory Committee (NSAC), with the blessings of President Uhuru Kenyatta, decided there would be no backing down on the war against rogue betting companies.
This is after what has been a week of high octane open warfare fought in the courts, in public through tough statements and advertisements punctuated by back-room lobbying and arm-twisting failed to bring the State and betting companies to the negotiating table.
According to sources, among those deported on Tuesday were directors from Bulgaria, Italy, Russia and Poland.
The deportation orders said that those sent back home were in Kenya illegally since the licences of the companies they were running were cancelled.
The orders also said that whatever they were doing was in contravention of their work permits.
The Interior ministry refused to disclose the names of those deported citing security concerns.
“This is still an ongoing operation so we won’t disclose their names for now because those being deported have to be arrested first,” Interior spokesperson Wangui Muchiri told the Nation.
On Tuesday morning, banks started to freeze the accounts which are thought to hold billions of shillings following an order by CBK on Monday night.
And that’s not all. In what was a very fluid day SportPesa, Betin and Betpawa moved to court seeking to reverse an earlier decision by the Betting Control and Licensing Board (BCLB) to block their paybill numbers and short codes.
In separate suits, the firms asked High Court judge Weldon Korir to hold BCLB bosses for contempt for putting their businesses at risk of being arrested for operating without a licence.
They also faulted the BCLB for blocking the paybills despite the pending legal battle in court.
However, justice Korir declined to heed to their pleas on wanting BCLB bosses punished over the issues they were protesting about.
Instead, he ordered that the betting board together with telcos Safaricom and Airtel be allowed time to respond to the case first before any punishment is imposed on them.
July 11, 2019
Liverpool joins Barca and Spurs on 1XBet sponsor roster
Following up on their 1XBet has announced a five-year sponsorship deal with FC Barcelona, 1XBet has unveiled a new multi-year partnership with Liverpool. No value or term for the Liverpool deal has been released.
1XBET will become the Official Global Betting Partner of Liverpool and will receive stadium branding at Anfield and on Liverpool’s digital platforms, as well as access to first-team players and club legends for promotions.
Billy Hogan, managing director and chief commercial officer, Liverpool, said: “We are delighted to welcome 1XBET to Liverpool FC as our newest partner. I know that their games and special offers will appeal to our fans around the world and we look forward to seeing these as we go into the new 2019/2020 season.”
1XBET has multiple markets in pre-match and live betting odds, alongside online games including live casino tables and virtual slot machines. Creating specific markets and odds for Liverpool fans will be a key part of the activation of the sponsorship.
Alex Sommers, 1XBET spokesman, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be partnering with the club to meet our goal of bringing fans closer to the sporting action through our innovative products and supercharged betting experience. We’re very proud of the relationship we have with Liverpool Football Club and we’re keen to work closely with fans around the world to bring them exciting entertainment opportunities and unique offers in the upcoming season.”
1XBET will become the Official Global Betting Partner of Liverpool and will receive stadium branding at Anfield and on Liverpool’s digital platforms, as well as access to first-team players and club legends for promotions.
Billy Hogan, managing director and chief commercial officer, Liverpool, said: “We are delighted to welcome 1XBET to Liverpool FC as our newest partner. I know that their games and special offers will appeal to our fans around the world and we look forward to seeing these as we go into the new 2019/2020 season.”
1XBET has multiple markets in pre-match and live betting odds, alongside online games including live casino tables and virtual slot machines. Creating specific markets and odds for Liverpool fans will be a key part of the activation of the sponsorship.
Alex Sommers, 1XBET spokesman, said: “We’re incredibly excited to be partnering with the club to meet our goal of bringing fans closer to the sporting action through our innovative products and supercharged betting experience. We’re very proud of the relationship we have with Liverpool Football Club and we’re keen to work closely with fans around the world to bring them exciting entertainment opportunities and unique offers in the upcoming season.”
July 09, 2019
SAZKA confirms OPAP takeover intent
Czech gambling conglomerate SAZKA Group has clarified its intentions to secure ‘full control’ of Athens-listed OPAP SA, Greece’s largest lottery and sports betting operator.
On Monday, the Athens Securities Exchange temporarily suspended OPAP’s listing, announcing that the gambling group anticipated a ‘major imminent corporate event’.
This morning, Reuters disclosed that SAZKA governance had submitted a formal Athens Exchange filing detailing its intentions to acquire OPAP outright.
At present SAZKA maintains a 33% holding in OPAP, which is secured through its Emma Delta subsidiary and co-owned with Greek shipping tycoon Georgios Melissanidis.
The Czech conglomerate, which operates one of European gambling’s biggest investment portfolios, secured its original holding in OPAP during 2013, as the Greek government was forced to privatise a number of state-owned enterprises, required under the terms of Greece’s IMF bailout.
In its filing, SAZKA governance has propositioned an opening ‘€9.12 per share’ offer to OPAP investors, significantly below the speculated ‘40% premium of €14-per-share’ offer reported on Monday by Greek business news sources.
Having restructured its ownership, SAZKA is controlled by Czech billionaire Karel Komarek Jr KKCG fund which is reported to aggressively expanding its holdings in established European gambling enterprises.
Having received SAZKA confirmation offer, The Athens Exchange will resume trading on OPAP shares today.
On Monday, the Athens Securities Exchange temporarily suspended OPAP’s listing, announcing that the gambling group anticipated a ‘major imminent corporate event’.
This morning, Reuters disclosed that SAZKA governance had submitted a formal Athens Exchange filing detailing its intentions to acquire OPAP outright.
At present SAZKA maintains a 33% holding in OPAP, which is secured through its Emma Delta subsidiary and co-owned with Greek shipping tycoon Georgios Melissanidis.
The Czech conglomerate, which operates one of European gambling’s biggest investment portfolios, secured its original holding in OPAP during 2013, as the Greek government was forced to privatise a number of state-owned enterprises, required under the terms of Greece’s IMF bailout.
In its filing, SAZKA governance has propositioned an opening ‘€9.12 per share’ offer to OPAP investors, significantly below the speculated ‘40% premium of €14-per-share’ offer reported on Monday by Greek business news sources.
Having restructured its ownership, SAZKA is controlled by Czech billionaire Karel Komarek Jr KKCG fund which is reported to aggressively expanding its holdings in established European gambling enterprises.
Having received SAZKA confirmation offer, The Athens Exchange will resume trading on OPAP shares today.
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