Rank Group Pays £5M Over Casino Compliance Failures

Three Rank Group-owned casino operators have agreed to pay more than £5 million after the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) identified anti-money laundering (AML) and safer-gambling failures across their land-based businesses. The settlement covers Grosvenor Casinos Limited, Grosvenor Casinos (GC) Limited and Gaming Group Limited, which operate 51 casinos across Great Britain. The companies must also undergo a third-party audit of their AML and social responsibility controls. The regulatory action followed a licence review and compliance assessment covering failings identified between November 1, 2024 and May 1, 2025. The settlement totals £5,012,261, of which £5 million will go to the Government's Consolidated Fund, with Rank also contributing toward the regulator's investigation costs. The investigation found that the operators had not updated their AML policies to reflect changes to the Money Laundering Regulations introduced in 2020, and identified inconsistent treatment of higher-risk customers, unclear procedures for assessing source of funds, and failures to complete enhanced due diligence when required. Cryptocurrency was one area of concern, as funds originating from crypto were sometimes treated as acceptable once converted into sterling without sufficient checks into where the money came from. One customer lost around £200,000 over two visits even though the operator did not hold adequate photographic identification or evidence of income, while another recycled approximately £85,000 in cash over 11 weeks without their risk rating being increased appropriately. Separate safer-gambling failures involved customer interactions intended to identify and reduce gambling harm, including one customer who lost approximately £50,000 without receiving a safer-gambling interaction and another who won around £260,000 and then lost approximately £250,000 within 12 days with no recorded safer-gambling interaction. The Commission also found examples where interactions occurred but their effectiveness was not properly assessed. The failures resulted in breaches of AML licence conditions and social responsibility requirements covering customer interaction. The regulator noted that Rank had previously received formal advice about similar issues, which counted against the company, but Rank cooperated fully with the investigation and implemented corrective measures, which the Commission treated as mitigating factors. Rank had already accounted for a £5 million regulatory settlement after referring to the issues as "historical compliance failures," and said the payment would have no additional effect on its profits. The required third-party audit will now examine whether the three operators have effectively implemented the updated AML and safer-gambling measures across their casino businesses.

(Source：World Casino News)