Entain Shares Fall After Ladbrokes Owner Hit With Record Fine

© Reuters

By Scott Kanowsky

AiVIF.com -- Shares in Entain PLC (LON:ENT) slid on Wednesday after it was slapped with a £17M fine by the U.K.'s Gambling Commission - the largest penalty ever doled out by the authority.

The Gambling Commission said Entain, the owner of gaming firms Coral and Ladbrokes, will pay £14M after an investigation revealed failures to meet licensing rules at its online business LC International Ltd. Ladbrokes Betting & Gaming Ltd., which runs 2,746 gaming operations across Britain, was also fined additional £3M.

It is a new record fine from the Gambling Commission. The prior high was a £13M penalty given to Caesars Entertainment in 2020.

“There were completely unacceptable anti-money laundering and safer gambling failures," said Gambling Commission chief executive Andrew Rhodes in a statement.

Rhodes added that this marks the second time Ladbrokes and Coral have fallen foul of regulations. The companies were previously given a £5.9M penalty before GVC Holdings - Entain's prior name - acquired them in 2020.

The businesses could have their gambling license revoked if any "further serious breaches" are discovered, Rhodes warned.

"They should be aware that we will be monitoring them very carefully," he said.

Entain responded that it has entered into a settlement with the Gambling Commission to avoid "protracted" legal proceedings. It added that it has agreed to appoint a board sponsor that will oversee the implementation of improvements in its compliance with gaming rules.

"Entain accepts that certain legacy systems and processes supporting the operations of its British business during 2019 and 2020 were not in line with the evolving regulatory expectations of the Commission in respect to aspects of social responsibility and anti-money laundering [...] safeguards," the group said in a statement.

However, Entain noted that there was no evidence found of criminal spending within its units.