WHG (William Hill) Fined £12.5m for Major Failings
Regulator finds widespread anti-money laundering and social responsibility breaches.
The UK Gambling Commission has ordered WHG (International) Limited, operator of William Hill Online, to pay a £12.5 million settlement following an investigation that uncovered widespread anti-money laundering and social responsibility failures. The breaches included allowing customers to lose tens of thousands of pounds without checks and failing to prevent hundreds of self-excluded players from gambling.
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The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has ordered WHG (International) Limited, which operates William Hill Online, to pay a £12.5 million settlement for extensive social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) failures.
The regulator's investigation, with findings published on 28 March 2023, identified numerous breaches that occurred between May 2020 and October 2021. The failings exposed customers to gambling-related harm and left the business vulnerable to financial crime.
Widespread Anti-Money Laundering Failures
The UKGC found significant weaknesses in WHG's AML policies and controls. The operator's risk assessment was deemed insufficient, failing to adequately address risks such as terrorist financing and the use of 'mule accounts'.
Investigators discovered that controls were not implemented effectively, allowing customers to deposit large sums without timely checks. Key examples from the report include:
- Customer B deposited £71,427 and lost £70,134 without the operator having knowledge of their occupation or source of funds.
- Customer E registered and was able to deposit and lose £36,000 in just four days with inadequate checks.
- Customer A had a net spend of £36,137 before the operator completed its enhanced due diligence profiling.
The Commission noted that WHG placed an undue reliance on open-source information and made assumptions about customers' funds without gathering sufficient evidence.
Social Responsibility and Safer Gambling Breaches
The investigation also uncovered serious deficiencies in WHG's safer gambling procedures. The operator failed to interact with at-risk customers in a timely manner, with some experiencing substantial losses before any meaningful intervention occurred.
Specific failings included:
- Slow or non-existent interactions: One customer lost £54,252 over four weeks while waiting for a customer profile review to be completed. Another lost £45,800 before receiving a telephone interaction.
- Inadequate checks for new customers: A new customer lost £11,400 in their first 30 days without sufficient checks to minimise the risk of harm.
- Over-reliance on automation: The operator relied heavily on automated emails when safer gambling alerts were triggered, without properly evaluating their effectiveness.
Self-Exclusion and Other Failings
A critical failure identified was that WHG's systems allowed 331 customers to gamble despite having previously self-excluded with Mr Green Limited, an operator acquired by the William Hill group. This ineffective control meant vulnerable players were not protected across the company's brands.
Further breaches included allowing a customer to place a £100,000 bet when their credit limit was set at £70,000, and a technical standards failure where a staff member placed bets on a customer's behalf.
Regulatory Action and Implications
As part of the regulatory settlement, WHG (International) Limited will pay £12.5 million in lieu of a financial penalty, which includes a divestment of over £284,000. The total payment will be directed towards socially responsible causes.
The operator has also agreed to new conditions on its licence, requiring it to appoint a board-level sponsor to oversee an improvement plan and to undergo a follow-up independent audit of its AML and safer gambling controls. This action underscores the UKGC's focus on ensuring operators effectively implement policies to protect consumers and prevent crime.