The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has revealed it considered suspending Evolution’s operating licence after discovering the supplier’s live casino games were being made available on unlicensed gambling websites accessible to consumers in Great Britain.
The disclosure comes a week after Evolution agreed to pay a £4.75m regulatory settlement following an 18-month investigation into its compliance controls. The regulator has now provided further details of the case, describing shortcomings that it said were serious enough for licence suspension to be considered before a settlement was ultimately reached.
According to the Commission, its investigation found Evolution had failed to maintain adequate anti-money laundering (AML) and customer due diligence (CDD) controls, while also failing to exercise sufficient oversight of its supply chain. Those weaknesses allowed the supplier’s games to appear on unlicensed gambling websites available to players in Great Britain.
The regulator’s review identified Evolution content on six unlicensed websites operated by two companies. The Commission said the supplier had not taken sufficient steps to identify and mitigate the risks associated with its commercial relationships before the breaches were uncovered.
Although the Commission ultimately opted against suspending Evolution’s licence, it said the company cooperated with the investigation, ended the relevant business relationships and strengthened its controls during the review. These actions formed part of the regulator’s decision to conclude the matter through a £4.75m regulatory settlement rather than imposing more severe sanctions.
The case serves as another reminder of the Gambling Commission’s continued focus on preventing licensed suppliers and operators from supporting the black market, with the regulator making clear that failures in AML controls and supply-chain oversight can place licences at risk.
Source: iGB – “Gambling Commission considered suspending Evolution licence following AML failings” and UK Gambling Commission – “Evolution Malta Holding Limited to pay £4.75m”.
