Ladbrokes Coral receive stiff penalty for responsible gambling failings

A Ladbrokes Coral statement released Monday detailed penalties amounting to around GBP 2.3 million following customer protection failures identified by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC).

The investigation, which focused on Gala Interactive (Gibraltar) Limited operations prior to the merger of the Ladbrokes and Coral businesses in 2016, has led to Ladbrokes Coral acknowledging failures in its social responsibility standards and procedures.

The penalty package will see Gala Coral refund money made in relation to the two customers who gambled with the company to the tune of around GBP 1.3 million using stolen money.

In addition, the firm will make a GBP 1.2 million contribution to fund research into the causes and identification of problem gambling, GBP 200,000 of which is a voluntary top-up to the penalty amount.

Jim Mullen, Ladbrokes Coral Group Chief Executive commented:

“Running a gambling company carries a huge responsibility to ensure that it is done so in a safe and responsible manner. When any part of our business fails to meet the required standards, it is right that they are held to account. The sector has an obligation to look to help customers help themselves and to seek to protect the vulnerable where self-help is evidently not going to happen.

“In the two cases reviewed with the Commission, it was clear that within our operations, we had not met our own standards or those demanded by the Commission. While we will always be exposed to risk of people failing to follow procedures, we accept that, in this case, the failings were evidence of a lack of priority being given to changes in approach identified in earlier engagements.

“Being public with our failings is an uncomfortable experience for any business, but we believe it is right that others can see the extent of our mistakes and try to learn from them. The Ladbrokes Coral business has moved on since these cases occurred and the mind-set of the Board and the management is that there can be no short cuts on delivering our social responsibility and anti-money laundering obligations.

Mullen goes on to say the company will genuinely put responsible gambling at the heart of the business as it moves forward from the debacle.

“With a business of this size and scale we will always be at risk of inadvertently failing to follow the right procedures. That is why we must continue to invest in the technology, people and research and education to help achieve the highest standards of social responsibility.
“We support the drive for higher standards and will continue to work with the Commission to raise the bar across the sector.”

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