Gambling Commission slaps BGO with £300,000 fine for ad failings
Regulator imposes first marketing-related financial penalty after operator was judged to have misled customers
Great Britain’s Gambling Commission has handed down its first financial penalty for advertising failings after fining BGO Entertainment £300,000 for breaching social responsibility rules and deceiving consumers.
The Commission fined the bgo.com owner following a major review into the publication of “misleading” promotions by the operator and its affiliate partners since July 2015, and the regulator has warned the industry to “take note” of the penalty.
Its investigation, which began in September 2016, concluded that the company’s advertising had repeatedly fallen foul of codes which came into force on 8 May 2015.
BGO’s advertising was deemed to have failed to present the limitations and qualifications of promotions, while the company was also judged by the Commission to have provided inaccurate assurances that the issues had been addressed when notified by the regulator.
The failings included nine adverts uploaded to bgo.com between 17 July 2015 and 21 July 2016, as well as 14 BGO advertisements on third-party affiliate sites between 4 February 2016 and 18 October 2016.
The Commission first raised concerns with BGO about its advertising in July 2015.
“We have made it clear to the industry that misleading advertising is a serious issue,” Paul Hope, programme director at the Gambling Commission, said.
“We have powers to tackle it, including the power to impose financial penalties such as this.
“We want operators to take note that the issues identified in the decision notice are likely to form the basis for future compliance assessments and could lead to enforcement action.”
According to today’s ruling, the regulator has issued BGO with a formal warning which will remain on file should the operator be found guilty of additional regulatory failures in the future.
The decision comes just weeks after Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) chief executive Guy Parker told EGR Intel it had “concerns” over the advertising of gambling promotions.
The Gambling Commission’s decision note can be read in full here.