Nektan UK Online Casino, Bingo License Suspended over Breaches

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has suspended the remote B2C license of online gambling firm Nektan (Gibraltar) Limited and has launched a review into the operator’s activities, saying it is believed to have breached conditions of its license.

The license suspension became effective from April 27, 2021, according to a message on UKGC’s official website. This means that it is now illegal for Nektan to provide online gambling services via its UK-facing gaming sites.

The now suspended license allowed the operator to provide Internet casino and bingo products to UK players.

Nektan (Gibraltar) Limited is the B2C arm of the larger Nektan group that went into administration in early 2020 as it failed to obtain funds to secure its future as a competitive gambling company. The wider firm sold its UK-facing B2C division to Grace Media shortly after going into administration.

The B2B business was sold to Real Time Strategic Marketing Limited and the newly combined company was rebranded and now operates as Markor Technology. Markor focuses on the delivery of customized and fully managed gambling services for clients interested in launching an online casino business.

The UKGC Review

The Gambling Commission said Thursday that it has suspended Nektan’s operating license under Section 118 (2) of the UK Gambling Act 2005 and has instigated a review into the company’s UK-facing operations under Section 116 of the same Act.

The regulatory body said that it suspects the operator is “unsuitable to carry on the licensed activities” and that its activities were carried on in a manner that was inconsistent with its licensing objectives.

As a result the Gambling Commission deemed it appropriate to suspend Nektan’s licensed online casino and bingo activities with immediate effect pending the conclusion of the ongoing probe or “until such time as the operator can satisfy the Commission it is operating compliantly.”

Nektan was further ordered by the regulatory agency to communicate effectively with its customers and inform them about the matter. The operator is also required to make sure the suspension does not prevent it from paying out winnings to its players.

The Gambling Commission said that it would provide no comment on its latest enforcement actions against an erring operator during the course of the investigation and would announce its findings when the review concludes.

Nektan is not the only UKGC licensee to have recently faced regulatory action from the agency. Late last month, the commission slapped five land-based casinos with six-figure fines as these were found to have failed to follow social responsibility and anti-money laundering rules.

It was late in March again when online casino operator Casumo was imposed a £6 million fine after an assessment by the regulator revealed a series of social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures.

Source: Interim suspension of operating licence – Nektan (Gibraltar) Limited, UK Gambling Commission Newsroom, April 29, 2021