The Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC) of the Isle of Man has fined BMO Manx, a well-known gambling operator, a hefty $870,000 (£700,000). The penalty comes after a string of noncompliance with anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) regulations, which the regulator determined were lacking in a number of crucial areas.
Compliance Failures Lead to Significant Penalty
Numerous flaws in BMO Manx’s internal policies and procedures were brought to light by the GSC’s examination. The company’s failure to do enhanced due diligence (EDD) on high-risk clients was a significant problem. The regulator said that when these due diligence procedures were not carried out correctly, BMO Manx failed to take the necessary actions to break off relationships with customers.
In addition to the lack of EDD, the regulator identified gaps in the company’s suspicious activity reporting framework, which was described as either inconsistent or entirely absent. There were also concerns about the operator’s handling of Politically Exposed Persons (PEPs), with the GSC noting that the process for analyzing such individuals was flawed. Another significant issue was the delay in the company’s business risk assessment, which was postponed for six months after the business officially launched.
The GSC emphasized that BMO Manx had failed to allocate enough resources to meet the required compliance standards. Furthermore, the company failed to provide adequate documentation to the relevant authorities, exacerbating its compliance shortcomings.
BMO Manx has committed to fixing these shortcomings in response to the GSC’s conclusions. The business has taken action to improve its overall compliance framework and reporting practices. BMO Manx is striving to comply with the relevant regulatory requirements going forward, even though it no longer has a license in the Isle of Man.
After the corporation promised to address the problems found during the inquiry, the GSC lowered the first penalties of $1.25 million (£1 million). This cut is a result of BMO Manx’s attempts to improve internal controls and change its compliance strategy.
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