Metropolitan Gaming has won the “Compliance Team of the Year – Non-Financial Services” at the ICA Compliance Awards Europe 2023, recognising its effective approach in terms of ensuring player protection, combating financial crime and meeting high compliance standards.

The success of Metropolitan Gaming’s compliance output follows adoption of an advanced “3-lines of defence” strategy. In addition, the Group worked to further mitigate AML and social responsibility risks and to develop a more fluid customer journey. It also invested in additional manpower at venue level and centrally to develop more effective management information tools. Its delivery and monitoring regime was reviewed regularly, and a period of continuous improvement has since followed across the company-wide compliance programme.

Evidencing this in the HM Treasury Supervision Report 2020-22, the Gambling Commission presented Metropolitan Gaming as a positive case example of how far the company has progressed by making “significant improvements in culture, policies, procedures and delivery”.

ICA President, Bill Howarth, commented: “We congratulate Metropolitan Gaming for their outstanding achievements and for driving excellence in financial crime prevention and compliance. We have been really impressed by the volume and quality of entries and congratulate all winners and highly commended entrants for being recognised for their collaboration, innovation and dedication. Thank you to everyone who attended the ceremony last evening and we look forward to welcoming you again for another successful edition in 2024.”

Jimmy Howard, Group Compliance Director at Metropolitan Gaming, added: “Metropolitan Gaming strives to benchmark standards in compliance across the industry and we are honoured to be recognised for the work and commitment on the part of so many that has helped us to achieve this award. This award recognises the excellence within our venue teams who deliver compliance and the support teams that provide the tools to facilitate compliance.”

The ceremony was attended by over 360 guests, bringing together regulatory and financial crime prevention professionals, to celebrate the contributions of individuals and companies combating financial crime and meeting high compliance standards. The evening celebrated the achievements of a total of 119 shortlisted finalists. Selecting the winners for 2023 was an esteemed judging panel comprising 66 senior compliance and financial crime prevention leaders from across the ICA membership, ICA subject matter experts and the wider compliance community.