The Gambling Commission has announced that online gambling operator Vivaro Limited trading as vbet, must pay a £337,631 (€381,233) regulatory settlement following a anti money laundering (AML) and social responsibility failings.
According to the Commission’s investigation, on several occasions between October 2020 and June 2021 Vivaro failed to comply with specific terms and conditions of its license.
These infringements included:
- Customers were able to deposit a large amount of money without undergoing “know your customer” (KYC) checks first.
- Insufficient guidance telling staff how they should verify Source Of Funds (SOF)
- AML triggers sets too high
- Ineffective customer AML checks; bank statements not checked correctly etc.
- One customer allowed to deposit £14,850 (€16,767) over two months with insufficient SOF being established.
- Overreliance on the customer’s net gambling position. Customer provided a bank statement showing a balance of over £270,000 (€304,879) in winnings from another betting account. Vivaro failed to sufficiently consider the risks associated with recycled winnings.
- Insufficient risk analysis for funds that had originated from crypto currency.
The investigation also found that Vivaro had insufficient communication with customers who had hit safer gambling limits. The Commission noted that staff relied too heavily on email interactions with these customers. One customer was allowed to deposit £20,000 (€22,583) over a five month period which accounted for 80% of their salary.
Vivaro must now undergo a third party audit within 12 months of the conclusion of the review.
Gambling industry fines in 2022 hit more than a quarter of a billion dollars for the first time (£220,948,192 / $269,532,490) – a huge increase of 443.9% compared to 2021’s total of $48,642,992.
Olivia has worked as an editor and writer for major brands across multiple niches. She now focuses on the iGaming and sports betting industries.