The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) officially announced that it has lifted the licence suspension it imposed on the sports betting company Lebom Limited on November 3rd. The measure was taken in connection with the gambling operator’s failure to adopt and integrate the national self-exclusion service GAMSTOP into its product offerings and mobile application.
At the time when the country’s gambling regulatory body first announced the suspension of the company’s operating permit, Lebom Limited acted quickly. As Casino Guardian reported, the sports betting and football prediction operator’s licence got suspended on November 3rd. It took only five days for the company to make things right by fixing its lack of compliance and eventually saw the licence suspension lifted on November 8th.
The online sportsbook and football prediction platform took action to comply with the rules only a few days after the UK Gambling Commission stopped it from offering its gambling services to local customers. Lebom Limited integrated GAMSTOP and is now able to resume offering the provision of services to British consumers.
Back in 2020, the UK gambling regulator made the integration of GAMSTOP mandatory for all licence holders offering gambling products on the local gambling market.
Several Online Gambling Operators Face Regulatory Penalties for Social Responsibility and AML Failures
Lebom Limited started operation in 2019 and suffered suspension from the UK gambling regulatory body because it failed to implement GAMSTOP, only a few years after the integration was mandatory by the Gambling Commission.
As previously reported by Casino Guardian, GAMSTOP is a national self-exclusion scheme that is aimed at helping local gamblers control their gambling habits. The self-exclusion service promotes safer gambling practices in order to tackle gambling-related harm. The scheme also provides support to problem gamblers and members of their families who are also often affected by the negative consequences of gambling.
The UK Gambling Commission has already demonstrated that it is not ready to make any compromises when it comes to enforcing the relevant gambling legislation in the country. The country’s gambling watchdog has already punished a number of large gambling companies, such as Entain, Smarkets, and Betway, for their transgressions and failures to comply with the requirements of the local Legislature and market regulators.
Over the last year, the UKGC has been keeping itself occupied with stricter regulatory control over the sector. In September 2022, the country’s gambling watchdog imposed a £2.9-million fine on Petfre (Gibraltar) Ltd, which trades as Betfred, for a number of social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.
In August 2022, Entain Group faced a whopping monetary penalty worth £17 million for a range of regulatory failures regarding money laundering and social responsibility rules. At the time, the fine was divided between the online and retail businesses of Entain.
Smarkets was also among the companies that suffered a monetary fine imposed by the UKGC for its anti-money laundering and social responsibility failures. The company faced a £630,000 fine in August 2022.
- Author
Olivia Cole
