Rank Group to Pay £5 Million Fine for Catalogue of Licence Breaches

The Rank Group, owner of Grosvenor Casino and other land-based brands in the UK, is to pay a £5 million fine following a Gambling Commission investigation.

After undertaking a comprehensive audit of the firm in 2025, the UKGC found that the Rank Group were guilty of a catalogue of anti-money laundering and social responsibility licence breaches.

Key incidents include allowing one customer to lose the £250,000 that they had previously won over a period of just 12 days, while another – who had previously self-excluded – was allowed to lose £25,000 before the Rank Group had any interaction with them.

Ranks’ Licence Breaches

Having been alerted by Rank to potential breaches of their licence conditions, the Gambling Commission then received intelligence that one of the company’s venues required an immediate compliance assessment.

Both reviews ultimately determined that the Rank Group had failed to satisfy four licence conditions relating to social responsibility – specifically premises-based customer interactions – and anti-money laundering.

The firm was held not to have adequate policies in place to ‘mitigate the risk posed by money laundering and terrorist financing’, including a failure to update their procedures in line with changes to Money Laundering Regulations made as far back as 2020.

The investigation revealed question marks over the consistency of anti-money laundering policies being put into action, with one venue manager not asking for proof of wealth or source of funds information from a customer who subsequently lost ‘significant funds’ – which may or may not have been theirs.

Another was able to ‘recycle’ £85,000 in cash through one of their venues in just eleven weeks, with no change to their level of money laundering risk.

Social Responsibility Failings

Customers of Grosvenor Casino were also able to lose considerable sums of money without appropriate intervention on the part of staff, including one customer who lost £50,000 before any interaction was carried out.

There were also the horror stories of the individual that was able to gamble their £250,000 win away, as well as the customer who was able to lose £25,000 despite having previously self-excluded – the assumption being that they had concerns over their gambling.

“Customers displaying concerning history, behaviours or inappropriate spend were permitted to play for extended periods or lose significant amounts before play was suspended, contrary to the licensee’s policies,” reads the Gambling Commission’s verdict.

Sue Young, the regulator’s executive director of operations, commented on the case: “The risks of anti-money laundering and social responsibility failures are alive in the land-based sector.

“We would advise all premises-based operators to take a careful look at this case and ensure their own business is not making the same mistakes, and therefore they do not face costly and inevitable Commission action.”

Another Setback for the Rank Group

Rank, who operate more than casinos across the UK, will pay the £5 million fine and be subject to further third-party checks in the future.

They knew that the financial sanction was coming, having made a £5 million provision in their accounts for the 2025/26 trading year. Reports suggest that Rank officials had offered the settlement figure to the Gambling Commission back in May.

It’s another setback for the firm, who were previously fined £500,000 by the regulator in 2018. They now face the outcome of the Autumn Budget later this month, in which the Chancellor, John Healey, is heavily rumoured to be introducing a hike on Machine Games Duty (MGD).

Rumours suggest that MGD could be increased as high as 40%, which would severely impact retail premises like Grosvenor Casino and Rank’s other flagship brand, Mecca Bingo.