At the end of last week, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) announced that BGO Entertainment Limited‘s operating licence has become subject to suspension. As explained by the UK major gambling regulatory body, the operating permit No. 039533-R-319369-021 was suspended after the watchdog carried out an investigation under section 116 of the country’s Gambling Act 2005.
The probe into the company’s operations and the consequent suspension of its permit to offer gambling services on the territory of the UK has been initiated following some concerns that BGO Entertainment Limited may have carried out its activities in violation of the Gambling Act 2005 or in breach of the conditions of its operating licence issued by the UKGC. There has also been a concern that the licence holder may be unfit to continue offering the licensed gambling services and operations.
The Gambling Commission further revealed that the operator’s failure to protect its customers was one of the major issues that were taken into consideration by the regulatory body at the time it decided to suspend BGO Entertainment’s operating permit.
The UK gambling watchdog has determined to ban the aforementioned operating licence under Section 118 (2) of the Gambling Act 2005. The licence suspension takes place immediately.
BGO Entertainment Needs to Allow Customers to Withdraw Funds from Their Accounts
The UKGC announced that the licence suspension does not mean BGO Entertainment Limited is prevented from allowing its customers to enter their accounts with the operator’s online gambling platforms and withdraw their funds. Currently, the company operates a number of digital gambling platforms, including bgo.com, m.bgo.com, chilli.com, vegasluck.com and powespins.com, and consumers can contact it through all of them.
The UK gambling regulatory body has also made it clear to the gambling company that during the course of their licence suspension, the watchdog still expects it to treat all of its consumers in a fair manner. BGO Entertainment is also expected to keep the customers fully informed of any developments of the situation regarding its licence suspension that could impact them.
This is not the first time when BGO Entertainment has experienced some regulatory action from the UK Gambling Commission. In October 2020, the gambling regulator of the country revealed that it had investigated three online operators for alleged failings in their money laundering and social responsibility protocols, with BGO Entertainment Limited being one of the companies, along with NetBet Enterprises Limited and Games Account Network PLC.
At the time, all three companies got their licences reviewed by the UKGC following some violations, including failure to prevent money laundering and criminal spending, as well as lack of compliance with customer protection rules. After investigating the failures, the UK gambling watchdog came up with some new licence conditions for BGO Entertainment and Games Account Network.
This time, unfortunately, things got really serious for BGO Entertainment, as the UKGC decided that the company had seriously breached the Gambling Act 2005. As mentioned above, the online gambling company’s operating licence has been suspended with immediate effect by the regulatory body, with the company also supposed to make sure it keeps its customers on track with any further issues related to its licence that could affect them.
- Author
Olivia Cole
