AG Communications, the holding company of Aspire Global, has been fined £1.4 million by the UK Gambling Commission for a series of social responsibility and anti-money laundering rule breaches.
The regulator described Aspire’s failings as ‘wholly unacceptable’, before revealing that the firm had done little to protect the welfare of a number of vulnerable customers.
Aspire, who operate more than 50 different gambling platforms as a white label provider, including Red Casino, Mr Luck and Campeon UK, failed to interact with players that lost significant amounts of money within a short space of time, while one customer was able to open a new account despite previously having self-excluded.
Communication Breakdown
One of the key breaches that the Gambling Commission upheld as part of their investigation was Aspire’s inertia when it came to communicating with players exhibiting problem behaviours.
One customer was able to lose £6,000 within the space of 48 hours, which was only challenged by a member of Aspire’s team when the individual had crossed the threshold of a £5,000 loss within a 24-hour window.
Another player at one of Aspire’s sites lost £7,000 in a little over four hours, managing to play through their deposit ‘backstop’ after a system error failed to prevent them going over their pre-determined limit. The customer was subject to a manual review, however the fact that they had got around their backstop was not identified.
As well as their flagrant breaching of social responsibility rules, Aspire were also taken to task for failing to uphold their anti-money laundering responsibilities.
The Commission found that the white label firm was ‘too reliant’ on financial thresholds before taking action against players that deposited or staked huge sums – particularly new account sign ups.
That meant that individuals with a medium or high money laundering score were able to bet freely until they triggered a financial alert… only then was an ECDD (Enhanced Customer Due Diligence) check performed.
Even then, ECDD checks were slow to be completed. One customer set off a financial trigger and wasn’t even assessed until a week later, while another player that reached a financial threshold – but didn’t have a high anti-money laundering risk score – was able to go eight days without being checked upon.
All of which combined adds up to a pretty considerable breach of UK licensing conditions – hence the size of the fine metered out to Aspire. The Gambling Commission’s director of enforcement, John Pierce, commented: “Its [Aspire’s] failure to uphold anti-money laundering standards, delays in necessary interventions, and deficiencies in social responsibility measures are wholly unacceptable.
“Today’s outcome underscores the gravity of these breaches. It is essential that operators not only implement and maintain robust anti-money laundering policies, procedures, and controls but also act swiftly and decisively in response to any indications of suspicious activity.”
Repeat Offender
The £1.4 million fine is by far and away the largest punishment received by Aspire Global in their years of trading, although it’s not the first time that they have been sanctioned by the UK regulator.
Back in 2022, they were fined £237,000 for a set of anti-money laundering failures – while being warned about their future conduct.
They had failed to demonstrate an ability to carry out ‘appropriate’ due diligence checks on as many as six gambling operators that they had entered into a white label partnership with.
White label operators typically run sports betting or casino sites on behalf of a third party, who will provide the capital in exchange for access to the white label firm’s UK licence approval. It has, over the years, led to some questionable individuals and enterprises being able, indirectly, being able to enter the UK market.
The latest fine handed out to Aspire continues the Gambling Commission’s busy start to 2025 from a regulatory perspective. They’ve already fined land-based slots and entertainments provider Merkur just shy of £100,000 for a series of social responsibility failings, before Greentube Alderney – the operator of Admiral Casino – was hit with a £1 million fine in January.
They were sanctioned the seven-figure sum after the regulator found that they had failed to implement their own anti-money laundering policies, which included failing to check the financial credentials of high roller customers and not confirming whether proof of affordability documents submitted were legitimate or not.
One Admiral Casino player submitted a bank statement that showed a payment of £100,000 being transferred into, and then quickly out of, their account. It took Greentube four months to investigate the financial background of said individual.