The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) revealed that after conducting a review into the business, it had suspended the operating and software licences held by Capen Ltd, a charitable lottery operator.
As the major gambling regulatory body of the UK explained, the operations of the company had been reviewed under section s116 of the 2005 Gambling Act. The review affected the operating licence No. 000-036257-R-317724-010 of Capen Ltd. This part of the law states that the gambling watchdog is allowed to carry out such a probe into a company in case it has a reason to believe that an operator is violating its licence conditions.
The investigation was initiated by the UK Gambling Commission after some concerns that the charitable lottery operator’s business may have been run in a way that breached the provisions of the 2005 Gambling Act. Furthermore, there have been concerns that Capen Ltd’s activities have not been offered in accordance with a condition of its operating licence and the company may not be fit to carry on offering the activities it had once been licenced for.
The UK Gambling Commission revealed that it had decided to suspend the aforementioned operating licence held by Capen under section 118(2) of the Gambling Act 2005. The suspension of the company’s licence comes into force with immediate effect.
Several Other Gambling Companies Have Also Saw Their Licences Suspended So Far in 2020
Capen Ltd received its operating licence from the UK gambling regulatory body in 2014 and three years later, in 2017, it got a software licence. It currently runs The Sports Lotto, The Little Lottery and Zaffo. It also used to operate the Lottery for Kids but the latter no longer exists.
The company, which was established by its chief executive officer Simon Rydings, specialises in running raffle-type draws that offer small prizes. According to information provided by Capen in regard to The Little Lottery, 235 of the funds that the brand generates are spared as a contribution for good causes.
Capen Ltd has not been the only gambling company that had its licence suspended by the UK gambling regulator in 2020. Earlier this year, the UK Gambling Commission decided to suspend the operating licence of the lottery betting company Multi-Media Entertainment Ltd, the igaming company Genesis Global, the betting exchange Matchbook, as well as the online gambling company Stakers. However, two of them – Genesis Global and Matchbook – had their gambling operating licences suspensions lifted at a later stage.
As the main gambling watchdog in the country, the UKGC has the right to issue, and respectively, to suspend operating petmits of gambling companies that are found either unfit to continue offering their services to local gamblers, either they have violated the conditions of their licences, breached the Gambling Act 2005 or failed to meet the social responsibility, customer interaction or money-laundering requirements of the regulator.
- Author
Olivia Cole
