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The UK Gambling Commission has announced that Malta-based Vivaro Limited has agreed to pay £337,631 as a regulatory settlement following a series of failings.
An investigation into Vivaro, trading as Vbet, found shortcomings in its processes aimed at preventing money laundering and safer gambling, according to an announcement by the Gambling Commission on January 17, 2023.
The Gambling Commission said all £337,631, which is in lieu of a penalty package of £302,500, will go to “socially responsible causes”.
Vivaro's domain names in the UK included www.dafabet.co.uk and www.manbetx.uk, representing two of the several Asian-based companies it helps to sponsor Premier League football clubs for through a white label agreement.
When determining what action to take, the regulator said it took four key factors into account.
There were "significant licence condition breaches for a sustained period of time. This impacted licensing objectives, including preventing gambling from being used to support crime and protecting vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling."
However, Vivaro was “proactive and timely” in addressing all the issues identified, as well as being “open and transparent from the outset of the investigation and fully co-operative throughout”.
Additionally, “the nature of Vivaro’s business, including their financial resources,” was taken into account.
Gambling operators are told by the regulator to take account of the failings, such as ensuring they have sufficient anti-money laundering (AML) and social responsibility training, as well as having formal processes in place to measure the effectiveness of AML and safer gambling policies and procedures.
More details of the investigation and subsequent review were published with the announcement.
It explains the failings in Vivaro’s implementation of AML policies, procedures and controls, as well as the deficiencies in its responsible gambling policies, procedures, controls and practices, including weaknesses in implementation.
Alongside the settlement, Vivaro has also agreed to undertake a third-party audit within 12 months of the review's conclusion.
“The purpose of the audit is to examine whether the licensee is effectively implementing its anti-money laundering and social responsibility policies, procedures and controls in accordance with its regulatory requirements,” the Gambling Commission has stated.
The launching of an investigation into the licensee followed a compliance assessment carried out by the regulator in April 2021.
