Evolution Malta Holding Limited has agreed to pay a £4.75 million regulatory settlement following an investigation by the UK Gambling Commission into the supply of its games to unlicensed gambling websites accessible from Great Britain.
The Commission said its investigation found Evolution’s games appeared on six unlicensed websites that were available to consumers in Great Britain between December 2023 and November 2024.
According to the regulator, Evolution’s assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing risks did not adequately identify that two of its business partners were making the supplier’s games available to British consumers without holding a Gambling Commission licence.
The Commission found that Evolution failed to take appropriate steps to identify and assess money laundering and terrorist financing risks, did not maintain effective policies, procedures and controls to prevent its games from being supplied to unlicensed operators serving the British market, and did not comply with customer due diligence requirements.
The case forms part of the Commission’s ongoing enforcement activity aimed at preventing unlicensed gambling operators from accessing consumers in Great Britain and ensuring licensed suppliers maintain effective controls over the distribution of their content.
John Pierce, Commission Director of Enforcement, said: “This case exposed serious weaknesses in Evolution’s anti-money laundering risk assessment and its oversight of risks within its supply chain.
“The company’s AML risk assessment was outdated and failed to adequately consider the risk of its games being made available through unlicensed operators. As a result, there was a significant gap between the controls on paper and their effectiveness in practice.
“The Commission’s investigation and testing uncovered failings that were serious enough for us to consider licence suspension.
“Evolution responded swiftly and comprehensively once these issues were identified, taking immediate action to strengthen its controls and address our concerns. Our subsequent testing has not identified any further instances of concern.
“However, this case provides an important lesson for the industry. Operators must ensure their risk assessments are current, regularly tested and reflective of real-world risks. They need to understand who they are supplying their games to, how and where those games are being accessed in practice, and maintain effective ongoing controls that give them confidence their products are not supporting illegal gambling.
“Operators should be under no illusion. We will continue to proactively monitor and test the market to identify licensed products being made available through illegal operators targeting consumers in Great Britain. Where we find failings, we will take decisive regulatory action.”
