The UK’s regulator for gambling practises, the Gambling Commission (UKGC), has recently revoked the owner of Slotty Vegas Casino’s gambling license MaxEnt Limited. This licence has been revoked due to the UKGC’s concerns over the recent take-over of the company, more specifically the sources of the funds used throughout this transaction, and the behaviour of the new owner with the UKGC.
This revoking of MaxEnt Limited’s licence will mean that from the 18th of June 2019, the operators will no longer run in the country’s gambling market. There are many reasons for the Slotty Vegas Casino operator’s licence being revoked, however one of the main contributors to this is the change of ownership that had recently occurred, and the many red flags that this acquisition had brought up for the regulators.
The UKGC decided it would revoke the operator’s licence with reference to section 102(4)(b) of the UK’s Gambling Act 2005. This law states that it is mandatory for gambling operators who have recently changed ownership to either apply for a new licence, or to surrender the operator’s licence entirely.
In addition to a new application being mandatory with this change in ownership, the operator should also have provided sufficient information about the new owner, including their reasons for showing interest in the take-over of an online gambling operator.
The Gambling Commission were concerned with this new take-over of the company, the new owner of MaxEnt Limited failing “to be full and frank in his dealings” with them. The lack of transparency in the new owner’s behaviour was just one of the many contributors that caused the UKGC to revoke Max Ent Limited’s gambling licence.
There was also concerns regarding the source for the funds that would be used to both obtain and carry the licensee throughout this change in ownership, the UKGC stating that it is “not satisfied as to the source of funds to acquire and support the licensee at the time of, and following, the change of corporate control.”
The revoking of MaxEnt Limited was announced last Tuesday, and is said to take effect on the 18th of June 2019. The UKGC stated that it had cause for concern regarding the finances for the online casino operator, in addition to other information they had provided to the commission.
In addition to this, the UKGC has further stated that the online casino operators will be having to inform all its users on its departure from the UK’s regulated gambling community effective immediately.
Although the Slotty Vegas operators are now effectively banned from operating from within the UK, the organisation is based in Malta, and will continue to operate in places permitted by their licence that are authorised by the Malta Gaming Authority.
The online casino operator claimed that it would attempt to appeal the UKGC’s decision, stating that the company was disappointed by publicising their license revocation. The operator found the UK gambling regulator’s public statements on the reasons for this decision to be misleading.
MaxEnt has made further claims that whilst they would very much want to stay in the country’s regulated gambling market, they are looking into other potential areas to enter, with some of these markets outside of the UK showing “great potential for a responsible prudent operator such as ourselves.”
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