The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has suspended the license-holding parent firm from operating its Victoria Gate Casino in Leeds city center over serious failures in compliance and governance.
The UKGC’s immediate suspension of Victoria Gate follows a formal review into whether operator VGC Leeds Limited remains suitable to hold a license.
According to a UKGC press release, a compliance assessment triggered the review that found VGC Leeds “failed to maintain and implement effective anti-money laundering (AML) policies, procedures, and controls” as a required condition of the licensee.
serious concerns”
The UKGC also stated that the violations raised “serious concerns” about the VGC’s decision-making processes and its handling of AML and counter-terrorist financing (CTF) risks.
Wrapping it all up was a final damning statement that the failings posed a threat to the UKGC’s licensing aim of keeping gambling crime-free, and essentially placed a big question mark on the “overall effectiveness” of VGC Leeds’s “casino’s governance and risk management structures.”
As such, the Victoria Gate Casino is shuttered, as a printed notice taped to the venue’s glass entrance reportedly confirmed: “our operating licence has been temporarily suspended.”
“We hope to open and welcome you back very soon,” the notice ended, perhaps minding the UKGC’s reiteration that VGC Leeds must “focus on treating consumers fairly and keeping them fully informed of any developments which impact them” during the suspension period.
