Seven companies face fines from the French gambling regulatory authority

The ANJ, France’s national gambling regulatory authority, has fined seven online sports betting operators for exceeding the mandatory player return rate (TRJ) ceiling. The regulatory body has issued warnings and imposed financial penalties on these operators for not adhering to the TRJ limits set by the country’s gambling regulations.

After investigating the activities of the operators in 2021, the ANJ discovered that they had violated the rules prohibiting them from redistributing more than 85% of a player’s stake after customer engagement. The cases were referred to the Sanctions Committee, which concluded that the operators had breached their license conditions.

However, the Sanctions Committee decided not to make the identities of the operators public by withholding publicity measures. France’s return rate limit is designed to prevent money laundering and terrorist financing, and the ANJ believes it also serves as a safeguard against problem gambling.

The French gambling regulatory authority, l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), has acknowledged that gambling operators are on an “upwards compliance trajectory”.

Earlier this month, the ANJ completed its review of operators’ anti-money laundering (AML) action plans for 2023, and most plans were approved, with the regulator noting “significant progress” compared to last year. However, some operators were identified as needing further improvements.

The ANJ conducted three assessments of the action plans, evaluating their compliance with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing rules, their implementation of the ANJ’s recommendations from 2022, and the content of the action plans for 2023.

The ANJ stated, “To a very large extent, the operators have complied with the prescriptions and recommendations that the ANJ sent to them in 2022 and are now on an upward compliance trajectory.”

In addition, the ANJ has published a blacklist of 532 gambling websites that have been subject to blocking and delisting orders. The list will be updated monthly as new orders are issued.

The ANJ was granted powers to block unlicensed gambling sites and sites that advertise them a year ago, and since then, it has issued 152 blocking orders. The blacklist includes URLs belonging to various brands such as Campeonbet, Casinoextra, Dublinbet, Kahuna Casino, Winmachance, MyStake, WinUnique, VegasPlus, and YBet.