The UK Gambling Commission has announced that it considered suspending Evolution's gaming licence following revelations that the company’s live casino games were made available on unlicensed websites accessible to consumers in the UK. This situation arose after a £4.75 million settlement was reached last week, following the commission's investigation, which uncovered Evolution's failure to uphold adequate anti-money laundering (AML) measures and sufficient customer due diligence controls within the UK.
John Pierce, the commission's director of enforcement, noted, "This investigation exposed serious weaknesses in Evolution’s AML risk assessment and its oversight of risks within its supply chain." He further explained, "Their AML assessment was outdated and failed to adequately consider the risk posed by unlicensed operators distributing their games, creating a significant gap between documented controls and their real-world effectiveness."
The commission began its investigation in December 2024 after detecting that Evolution's games were being offered to unlicensed operators. Reports indicated that between December 2023 and November 2024, Evolution's titles appeared on six unlicensed sites operated by two third-party entities. The commission first identified the illicit use of the games in August 2024 and formally notified Evolution in December of that year.
Upon being informed, Evolution recognized that their games were legitimate and quickly restricted access for UK consumers on the affected sites. However, the inquiry also revealed multiple breaches of licence conditions, particularly related to AML compliance and adherence to the 2017 Money Laundering Regulations.
The findings showed that Evolution fell short of requirements under Licence Conditions 12.1.1(1-3) and 12.1.2, with their risk assessments between April 2024 and January 2025 proving inadequate, especially concerning evaluations of third-party risks. These shortcomings prevented Evolution from recognizing that two operators were distributing their games in the UK without the necessary Gambling Commission licences.
The commission described Evolution's deficiencies in due diligence and ongoing monitoring as serious. Pierce emphasized that the failings uncovered “were serious enough for us to consider licence suspension.” However, the swift action taken by Evolution meant that a suspension was ultimately not implemented.
Following the investigation, Evolution engaged in extensive measures in 2025 to ring-fence its European operations, ensuring that its games could not be accessed via unlicensed operators. These efforts came at a considerable cost to the company, impacting its profitability for that year.
In the end, Evolution agreed to the settlement with the Gambling Commission, which included a financial payment and the commitment to undergoing an independent audit of its UK licence within the forthcoming year, along with covering the commission’s investigation costs.
During Evolution's Q2 earnings call last week, CEO Martin Carlesund asserted that the regulatory settlement would not impact the company’s UK operations. "I mean, we settled with them [UKGC]," Carlesund stated. "There are no changes in our way of doing things in the UK for a while, and we have no changes coming up."
