Rank Group PLC, which operates several major land-based casinos, has reached a settlement of over £5 million ($6.6 million) with the Gambling Commission after serious deficiencies were uncovered in its anti-money laundering (AML) and safer-gambling controls.
On Wednesday, it was confirmed that Grosvenor Casinos Limited, Grosvenor Casinos (GC) Limited, and Gaming Group Limited—three entities under Rank Group that oversee 51 casinos across Great Britain—will collectively pay £5,012,261 to the government’s consolidated fund.
In addition, the companies have agreed to undergo a third-party audit to ensure the effective implementation of their AML and social responsibility measures.
The issues came to light when the Gambling Commission launched a review of the group’s license under Section 116 of the Gambling Act 2005, prompted by intelligence reports regarding the operators. A compliance assessment in June 2025 highlighted comprehensive weaknesses in both AML and gambling safety processes.
Specifically, the Gambling Commission identified several shortcomings in AML procedures. The operators failed to revise their AML policies following revisions to the UK Money Laundering Regulations in 2020, which led to improper classification of certain customers as lower-risk. Furthermore, managerial discretion was often applied without clear parameters, causing lapses in verifying customer funds and sources of wealth.
The operators also lacked clear policies concerning the acceptance of cryptocurrency as a source of funds, accepting it as legitimate once converted to sterling without adequate checks on provenance. Enhanced due diligence was often neglected, particularly concerning customers in high-risk categories or those with unusual funding patterns.
In terms of safer-gambling practices, staff showed inconsistency in intervening with customers displaying signs of gambling harm. For example, one customer lost around £50,000 without any intervention noted. Another long-term customer won £260,000 but lost £250,000 in just 12 days, also without protective actions taken, while a third customer lost £25,000 before any intervention occurred.
The report also raised concerns about repetitive low-level interventions without evaluating their effectiveness, alongside delays in implementing critical measures such as gambling limits or restrictions on payment methods. These failures were found to breach specific licensing and social responsibility code provisions, particularly the obligation to prevent gambling from aiding criminal activity.
Grosvenor Casinos acknowledged the findings and the settlement with the Gambling Commission. Sue Young, the executive director of operations at the Commission, stated that this case exemplifies the AML and safer-gambling risks present in land-based casinos, comparable to those in online gambling. She advised other retail operators to rigorously examine their own compliance protocols.
In its 2026 risk assessment report on AML, the regulator highlighted operator-side deficiencies as a critical issue, noting particularly poor AML/CTF policies and lack of adequately trained staff across various subsectors. Rank Group’s Grosvenor Casinos Limited had its license reviewed for compliance problems throughout 2024 and 2025. In a full year earnings call for 2025, Rank announced it would set aside £5 million in its accounts to address the expected regulatory settlement.
Rank Group articulated that it acted swiftly to implement corrective measures and cooperated fully during the regulatory investigation, which was recognized as a mitigating factor when determining the outcome of the case.
