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The Gambling Commission first raised concerns about BGO’s advertising conduct in July 2015. The initial investigation established some worrying behaviour from the firm. BGO and its affiliates were found to publish misleading advertisements for promotions which would hide information from the target market. The investigation also found that BGO “did not take timely and effective action to address misleading advertisements” and that BGO “provided inaccurate assurances that the issues had been fully addressed”.
Despite these initial concerns, BGO continued to publish misleading advertisements from when concerns were first raised through to the following year. 9 misleading adverts were published by BGO in this period whilst 14 were found on affiliates’ website last year.
“Despite extensive contact with us, BGO failed to take prompt and effective action to address the issues identified,” said UKGC. “BGO repeatedly provided assurances to us that it understood the requirements and had taken action to ensure that they were met. However, we continued to find evidence that advertisements on BGO’s own website and the websites of third parties were potentially misleading by failing to include significant limitations and qualifications of promotions.”
BGO hit with £300k fine
2017-05-29 15:37:37The decision is a landmark for the industry and marks the first financial penalty imposed by the Gambling Commission for advertising failings.
Initial Concerns
The Gambling Commission first raised concerns about BGO’s advertising conduct in July 2015. The initial investigation established some worrying behaviour from the firm. BGO and its affiliates were found to publish misleading advertisements for promotions which would hide information from the target market. The investigation also found that BGO “did not take timely and effective action to address misleading advertisements” and that BGO “provided inaccurate assurances that the issues had been fully addressed”.
Repeat Offenders
Despite these initial concerns, BGO continued to publish misleading advertisements from when concerns were first raised through to the following year. 9 misleading adverts were published by BGO in this period whilst 14 were found on affiliates’ website last year.
“Despite extensive contact with us, BGO failed to take prompt and effective action to address the issues identified,” said UKGC. “BGO repeatedly provided assurances to us that it understood the requirements and had taken action to ensure that they were met. However, we continued to find evidence that advertisements on BGO’s own website and the websites of third parties were potentially misleading by failing to include significant limitations and qualifications of promotions.”