The UK Gambling Commission has lifted the licence suspension placed on Matchbook operator Triplebet.
The UK Gambling Commission has lifted the suspension of Triplebet’s remote operating licence after the operator implemented the necessary measures.
This news comes after the Commission suspended Triplebet’s remote casino, pool betting and betting intermediary licences under Section 116 of the 2005 Gambling Act in February.
Why was Triplebet’s license suspended?
In April, the Gambling Commission, revealed it had suspended the operator’s licence after identifying serious failings in the areas of anti-money laundering (AML) controls, due diligence checks into gambling syndicates and social responsibility protections after carrying out a two-year review of the business.
The Commission noted a case of a player who deposited a large amount of money and withdrew it on the same day without gambling any of the funds and the operator failed to take any action. Another player gambled over £2m in a single day but was not subjected to any source of funds checks.
Triplebet also allowed customers to conduct account-to-account money transfers, which the regulator said was “an obvious risk for money laundering.” The Commission said the operator was not able to produce a record of any account-to-account money transfers being declined.
After the UK regulator began its review of Triplebet’s practices, the operator engaged the services of Alvarez and Marsal, a performance improvement consultancy.
Although the Commission acknowledged by June 2018, the operator adopted an “effective” responsible gambling policy, Triplebet did not adopt all recommendations by the time of the licence hearing in January. The operator decided to roll the changes out in phases, which resulted in the licence suspension.
Triplebet’s licence suspension lifted
On Friday 7 August, the UK regulatory body updated its notice of Triplebet’s suspension to announce it had been lifted as the operator had “implemented the remedial measures required.”
A message on Macthbook’s site suggests that the business may resume operation in a matter of days. The message read: “We’re pleased to announce that our license suspension has been lifted and we are working hard to get the site back up and running as soon as possible. We can’t wait to welcome you all back to Matchbook in the coming days.”
As part of the conditions for lifting the suspension, Triplebet was required to obtain a report from independent auditors proving It had implemented the outstanding recommendations.
Alvarez and Marsal’s recommendations included new policies for the fair treatment of customers, the creation of a new compliance committee, the development of a new responsible gambling algorithm and steps towards Gamcare’s Safer Gambling Standard certification.
The consultants also said that Triplebet should introduce AML and problem gambling training to be carried out by Gamcare for 30 key members of staff, as well as daily screening to identify players that may be subject to international sanctions.
The Commission and Triplebet did not reveal which recommendations had been implemented by January but said in April that all of the recommendations had been put into place.
