On July 20th, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) announced that it has started a probe into the operating licence of the online gambling company Genesis Global Ltd due to several compliance issues. As explained by the UK gambling regulatory body, the Operating Licence No 000-045235-R-324169-010 that the company currently holds for offering real event betting, online gambling and casino gambling is to be suspended while the review, which is to be held under sections 116 and 118 of the Gambling Act 2005, takes place.
Under the provisions of the Gambling Act 2005, the Gambling Commission is given the right to review the operations of any gambling licence holder that is suspected of being unsuitable to continue offering the services allowed under its licence.
As revealed by the Commission, the watchdog suspects that Genesis Global Ltd has violated section 116(2)(a). As a result, the gambling regulator shared that its suspicion was enough to immediately ban the UK-facing activity of 12 online gambling sites operated by Genesis Global. The suspended websites include genesiscasino.com, casinoplanet.com, casinojoy.com, casoola.com, casinogods.com, casinocruise.com, kassu.com, spinit.com, sloty.com, spela.com, pelaa.com and vegashero.com.
The UK Gambling Commission has instructed the gambling company to allow its customers to access their accounts and withdraw any funds they may have. Furthermore, the watchdog recommended to consumers not to place any bets through any of the aforementioned websites.
Genesis Global Has Faced Gambling Regulatory Action in Sweden, Too
The online gambling company Genesis Global Ltd is based in Malta and apart from its operating licence from the UKGC, it currently holds a licence issued by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA). Furthermore, some units of the operator hold licences issued by gambling watchdogs in Sweden and Spain.
So far, the Swedish gambling sector has turned out to be particularly tricky for the gambling company, which has been hit by financial penalties due to violations of customer bonus offer rules. Genesis Global’s operations in the country have been also punished for their failure to properly connect its Sweden-facing websites to the online gambling self-exclusion service available in the country.
As for the UK gambling regulatory body, the Commission has recently faced increased criticism by some Members of Parliament, who have blamed it for lack of stricter measures to prevent such failures from happening in the sector.
The gambling watchdog has already rolled out a number of similar operating licence reviews of gambling companies in the last few months. Gambling companies FSB Technology and Stakers Ltd were among the ones affected by such probes, with FSB Technology already having agreed to make a payment of £600,000 as a confession to the allegations of illegal advertising, social responsibility failures and money laundering on behalf of three of its third-party licence holders.
- Author
Olivia Cole
