Following Unfair Cashout Investigation: L&L Europe to Pay $1.2M Settlement

Online casino operator L&L Europe has agreed to pay GBP 900,000 ($1.2 million) to settle a UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) investigation aimed at problems with withdrawal practices and protections for vulnerable customers. The regulator determined that the company, which partnered with sportsbook supplier Altenar in 2022 and is responsible for operating seven different gambling brands in the UK, made it unnecessarily difficult for customers to access their money. The same findings also identified a series of weaknesses in the operator’s anti-money laundering procedures and the systems that were designed to detect harmful gambling behavior. One Request at a Time One of the withdrawal practices that drew the attention of investigators in particular allowed customers to only send one withdrawal request at a time. In other words, players were forced to wait for the operator to authorize a request before submitting another, a restriction the UKGC found unfair under the Consumer Rights Act 2015. The investigation also determined that certain customers faced manual checks on every fifth or tenth withdrawal. At times, the extra checks required them to send additional documents that could have been requested at an early stage, thus further delaying access to funds. L&L Europe acknowledged the delays and said it had changed its procedures. Sue Young, the UKGC’s executive director of operations, said customers should be able to withdraw winnings promptly without facing unnecessary barriers. She added that operators may need to request information at the withdrawal stage to meet legal obligations, but the regulator found that this was not the case in L&L Europe’s situation. Young Players Lost Thousands Without Being Flagged The investigation also focused on anti-money laundering and social responsibility controls for the 12 months between October 2024 and October 2025. According to the UKGC, L&L Europe relied too heavily on general financial thresholds instead of assessing individual customers’ circumstances and risk profiles. In one case, a customer made 84 unsuccessful deposit attempts in seven days because of insufficient funds. The monitoring system did not flag the activity as a potential sign of gambling harm. In two other cases, an 18-year-old and a 21-year-old lost thousands of pounds in a short period without being identified as high-risk customers. UKGC also established that interventions were sometimes delayed even after customers reached financial thresholds which were supposed to trigger contact. One customer crossed a threshold on their first day but only received a call from the casino two weeks later. Anti-Money Laundering Checks Also Failed The UKGC identified further weaknesses in checks on the source of customer funds. In one instance, a customer deposited GBP 4,400 ($5,900) within eight hours of opening an account. L&L Europe accepted the funds from the newly opened bank account without adequately verifying their origin. The customer then supplied an incorrect address twice without prompting internal suspicion. The GBP 900,000 payment will be made in lieu of a financial penalty, with L&L Europe also covering part of the regulator’s investigation costs. Chief executive officer Chris Dalli accepted responsibility for the shortcomings, acknowledging that the company’s internal controls had fallen short of the required standard. Young said the case also served as a warning to the wider gambling industry that the UKGC would act against unfair withdrawal practices, alongside its enforcement work on anti-money laundering and social responsibility. The action follows a GBP 4.75 million ($6.36 million) settlement agreed with gaming supplier Evolution in July over its games being accessible to British gamblers through unlicensed websites.