UK Considered Suspending Evolution’s Gambling Licence
United Kingdom.- 24 July 2026 www.zonadeazar.com The UK Gambling Commission considered suspending the licence held by Evolution Malta Holding Limited after identifying serious weaknesses in its anti-money laundering controls and oversight of third parties distributing its games.
The regulator ultimately reached a settlement involving a GBP4.75 million payment, an independent audit and an additional condition attached to Evolution’s British operating licence.
News Details
The review began after five genuine Evolution games were found on six websites operated by two companies without British licences, despite being accessible at scale to consumers in Great Britain.
The Gambling Commission initially identified the content in August 2024 and formally notified Evolution in December. The supplier confirmed the games were genuine and permanently geo-blocked access from Great Britain on the affected websites and other platforms where its products were discovered.
The investigation found that Evolution’s risk assessments between April 2024 and January 2025 did not adequately account for risks involving third parties and sub-licensees.
Its due-diligence procedures, ongoing monitoring and enhanced controls for higher-risk relationships were also found to lack sufficient detail and effectiveness. These shortcomings contributed to the company failing to identify that two customers were supplying its games to the British market without the required authorisation.
Industry Context
The breaches concerned licence conditions 12.1.1 and 12.1.2, covering the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing and compliance with the UK’s 2017 regulations.
Aggravating factors included activity in the illegal market, financial gain for the supplier, the serious nature of the breaches and the potential impact on the protection of vulnerable people.
Mitigating factors included Evolution’s swift remedial plan, full cooperation with the investigation and early acceptance of the identified failings.
Statements
Gambling Commission Director of Enforcement John Pierce said the investigation exposed significant weaknesses in Evolution’s AML risk assessment and its supervision of supply-chain risks.
He explained that the failings were serious enough for the regulator to consider suspending the licence, although Evolution’s rapid response meant that measure was not imposed.
Next Steps or Impact
Evolution must make the GBP4.75 million payment, contribute towards the regulator’s investigation costs and accept a licence variation requiring an independent audit of its relevant policies, procedures and controls within twelve months.
The outcome reinforces the responsibility of B2B suppliers to understand where their products are distributed, assess risks created by customers and sub-licensees and take proactive measures to prevent games from appearing on illegal platforms.
Edited by: @_fonta
