UK Regulator fines AG Communications £1.4M over violations

Gambling operator AG Communications Limited has been ordered to pay £1,407,834 following an investigation by the Commission, which identified failures in Social Responsibility (SR) and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) compliance.

The operator, which trades as AspireGlobal and manages 58 websites, has agreed to direct the settlement funds toward socially responsible causes as part of its resolution with the Commission. The investigation found significant shortcomings in the company’s social responsibility measures.

AG Communications lacked effective systems to monitor and prevent customers from spending large sums in short periods before assessing their potential risk of gambling-related harm. In one instance, a customer lost £6,000 in just 48 hours, yet no safer gambling intervention was made. A phone call was attempted, but only after the customer exceeded a daily loss limit of £5,000 in 24 hours. In another case, a customer deposited and lost £7,000 in just over four hours. A system error allowed them to bypass the backstop limit, and a subsequent manual review failed to detect that they had exceeded the trigger. Additionally, a previously self-excluded customer was able to open multiple gambling accounts, raising concerns about the operator’s safeguards against high-risk behavior.

The Commission also identified serious AML failures. The operator’s AML and Counter-Terrorist Financing (CTF) policies relied too heavily on financial thresholds rather than proactive risk assessments. Customers classified as medium to high AML risk were not subject to Enhanced Customer Due Diligence (ECDD) checks until they triggered financial limits. Even when these thresholds were met, there were delays in conducting reviews. One customer had to wait a week for an ECDD check after exceeding the financial threshold, while another was not reviewed for eight days despite meeting the criteria for further scrutiny. These delays were in direct violation of AG Communications’ own policies, further highlighting the company’s compliance deficiencies.

This is the second time AG Communications Limited has faced regulatory action. In 2022, the company was fined £237,600 for AML-related failures. The recurrence of similar violations has prompted the Commission to issue a strong warning to the operator and the wider industry.