UKGC Suspends Licences of Bet St George and BresBet - What It Means

On Friday evening, the UKGC decided to open an investigation into the betting sites Bet St George and BresBet, resulting in a suspension of the licences.

It's been less than half a year since Bet St George hit the market, starting out with a bang during the Cheltenham Festival, and yet they have already had their licences suspended. The decision was announced by the UKGC on Friday evening in a statement published on their site.

The suspension also affects BresBet, which is owned by the same parent company as Bet St George, and an investigation into social responsibility and anti-money laundering failings is now ongoing. Once that has been completed, a final decision will be made on the licences.

Statement From the UKGC

"The Gambling Commission has suspended the operating licence of BresBet Ltd which runs bresbet.com and Bet St George Ltd which operates betstgeorge.com.

"The suspension of BresBet (operating licence no 065252-R-340096-002) and Bet St George Ltd (operating licence no 067818-R-341699-001) follows Commission enquiries which revealed suspected social responsibility and anti-money laundering failings.

"The Commission is now carrying out a review of both licences under section 116 of the Gambling Act 2005 and the suspension will remain in place until the Commission is satisfied the businesses are compliant.

"It has been made clear to both operators that during the course of the suspension they are expected to treat consumers fairly and keep them fully informed of any developments which impact them.

"The suspension, which takes place immediately, does not prevent either operator from allowing consumers to access their accounts and withdrawing funds. Both businesses can be contacted through their websites," the statement reads.

What Could Happen Next?

It's not unusual (sadly) for betting sites to be fined for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failings. StarSports was fined £594k in 2023, for example, while the giant Entain was fined a whopping £17m (!) back in 2022 for the same failures.

However, the fact that the UKGC opted to suspend the licences while carrying out an investigation suggests the potential failures are more serious than usual.

We will refrain from full-on speculation here though, especially since the UKGC statement clearly states that the suspensions will be revoked if the investigation finds that the sites are compliant. That said, there is no telling how long this investigation will take, which leaves plenty of customers in the dark.

Either way, we would expect to see some sort of fine at the end of this ordeal, which could subsequently have an effect on the customers (fewer promotions, deals, increased margins, and so on).