Three prominent land-based casino operators under Rank Group PLC are set to pay over £5 million ($6.6 million) following the Gambling Commission's discovery of serious deficiencies in their anti-money laundering (AML) and safer gambling measures.
The settlement, announced on Wednesday, involves Grosvenor Casinos Limited, Grosvenor Casinos (GC) Limited, and Gaming Group Limited, which collectively manage 51 casinos across Great Britain. They will remit £5,012,261 to the government’s consolidated fund.
In addition, Rank Group has agreed to undergo a third-party audit to evaluate the effective execution of their AML and social responsibility protocols.
The investigation by the Gambling Commission began with a license review under Section 116 of the Gambling Act 2005, prompted by reports and intelligence regarding these operators. A compliance assessment, carried out in June 2025, uncovered systematic vulnerabilities in both AML practices and safer gambling procedures.
Key findings from the investigation revealed several AML failings. The operators had not revised their AML policies to reflect the updates made to the UK Money Laundering Regulations in 2020, which led to customers being improperly categorized in terms of risk. Furthermore, managers made discretionary decisions without clear guidelines, resulting in insufficient verification of customer funds and sources of wealth.
The policies were also unclear about addressing cryptocurrency as a funding source. Employees accepted cryptocurrencies once converted into sterling deposits, but did not conduct adequate provenance checks. In instances where enhanced due diligence was required — particularly for customers identified as students from high-risk jurisdictions or those displaying unusual funding behavior — the operators often fell short.
On the safer gambling front, there were inconsistencies in staff intervention when customers showed signs of gambling-related harm. The report highlighted one case in which a customer lost around £50,000 without any recorded intervention. It also documented a long-time customer who won approximately £260,000 but lost £250,000 within just 12 days, again with no protective actions taken, and another patron who lost £25,000 before any steps were initiated.
The Commission noted that operators frequently relied on low-level intervention tactics without evaluating their effectiveness. They also reported delays in escalating issues, such as imposing gambling limits or restricting debit card use. These oversights violated specific licensing conditions and social responsibility code provisions, particularly the duty to prevent gambling from facilitating crime.
Grosvenor Casinos accepted the Gambling Commission's findings and the associated settlement. Sue Young, executive director of operations at the Gambling Commission, highlighted that this enforcement action illustrates that AML and safer gambling risks exist as much within land-based entities as they do in online platforms.
"Larger enforcement cases are often linked to online gambling, but today’s announcement highlights that the risks of anti-money laundering and social responsibility failures are equally present in the land-based sector," she stated, urging retail operators to diligently assess their compliance measures.
As part of its 2026 risk assessment report on AML, the Commission noted that operator-side failings were a significant focus. It also flagged deficient AML/CFT policies and inadequately trained staff across different subsectors.
Rank Group’s Grosvenor Casinos Limited faced a license review for compliance problems that spanned 2024 and 2025. During its 2025 full-year earnings call, Rank disclosed plans to incorporate a £5 million provision in its accounts for the anticipated regulatory settlement. The company reported that it implemented corrective actions promptly and fully cooperated with the Commission's investigation, which the regulator recognized as mitigating factors during the resolution process.
