The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has launched a review into Evolution Malta Limited regarding its operating licence in the UK market, according to a statement from the igaming supplier.
The review has been initiated under Section 116 of the Gambling Act 2005 after the Commission identified Evolution games as “being accessible from the UK through operators not holding a Commission license”.
A range of outcomes is possible from the review, including no action being taken, conditions being imposed on the licence, financial sanction, suspension and revocation of Evolution’s licence to operate.
Within its statement, Evolution said it is cooperating with the UKGC to resolve the matter.
“Evolution is cooperating fully with the Commission and has taken requested immediate actions to remedy the situation,” the supplier said.
“Games on the identified websites not holding a Commission license have been made unavailable from the UK. Evolution continues to actively work with the Commission to resolve this matter.”
Martin Carlesund, CEO of Evolution, also commented on the UKGC review, noting that the supplier is committed to supporting the licensed UK market, which generates around 3% of its revenue.
“Evolution embraces the objectives of the review by the Commission,” stated Carlesund.
“We are committed to support the licensed UK market as well as preventing unlicensed traffic. We are now taking forceful action using all technical tools available to us to ensure that our games only are available in the UK through Commission licensed operators.
“We believe that a close collaboration to address our joint concerns will lead to swifter and better results. As always we remain committed to an open and transparent relationship with our regulators.”
The review of Evolution’s licence in the UK comes after UKGC CEO Andrew Rhodes told licensed operators at its annual CEO Briefing last month to conduct due diligence to ensure suppliers are not supporting illegal activity.
Rhodes said: “I said to you last year that I wanted to encourage you to use your commercial influence with any partner or supplier you have to ensure they were taking all the relevant steps to verify they were not supporting illegal activity facing into GB.
“I’m going to go one step further than that today and strongly suggest you all undertake due diligence to ensure none of your suppliers are directly or indirectly engaged in supporting unlicensed activity in this market.
“The Commission’s strategy on combatting illegal gambling is to cause as much up-stream disruption as we can, which is why we have focussed on ISPs, payment providers, search engines, software suppliers and more.”
