UKGC Suspends Ken Howell's Sports Betting Online Licence Over Anti-Money Laundering Failings

The Gambling Commission has suspended the remote licence of Targetlocal Ltd, the Swansea company behind kenhowells.com, after enquiries it says revealed anti-money laundering failings. It is the third British online bookmaker suspended pending a licence review in less than a month.

• The Gambling Commission suspended the combined remote operating licence of Targetlocal Ltd, which trades as Ken Howell's Sports Betting and runs kenhowells.com, with immediate effect on 21 September
• The Commission says its enquiries revealed anti-money laundering failings and that it is reviewing the licence under section 116 of the Gambling Act 2005, with the suspension in place until it is satisfied the business is compliant
• Customers can still access their accounts and withdraw funds, and the company's non-remote general betting licence is not affected
• The suspension follows those of BresBet and Bet St George at the end of August, and a £609,104 settlement by QuinnBet over AML and safer gambling failures
• No findings have been published, and a licence review is not a determination that any breach occurred

A Swansea Bookmaker's Online Arm Is Taken Offline

The Gambling Commission said on 21 September that it had suspended the combined remote operating licence held by Targetlocal Ltd, licence number 000422-R-336567-002, covering its online casino, sports betting and virtual event betting. Targetlocal trades as Ken Howell's Sports Betting and runs the website kenhowells.com. The suspension "follows Commission enquiries which revealed anti-money laundering failings", the regulator said.

The Commission is now reviewing the licence under section 116 of the Gambling Act 2005, which allows it to review an operating licence on grounds that include a suspected breach of a licence condition or doubts about the holder's suitability. The suspension takes effect immediately and will remain until the Commission is satisfied the business is compliant. It has told the operator to treat consumers fairly and keep them informed during the suspension, and customers can still log in and withdraw their balances. The company's non-remote general betting standard licence is not affected.

Companies House records show Targetlocal Limited was incorporated in November 1991 and is registered in Killay, Swansea. Focus Gaming News reported that the operator received its Commission licences in 2024. The Commission has not said what the failings were, over what period, or how much money was involved.

The Third Online Suspension in Four Weeks

The action follows the Commission's suspension of BresBet and Bet St George, two online bookmakers that share a director, from 28 August, also under section 116 reviews and over suspected social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures. In the same period the Commission published a £609,104 regulatory settlement by QuinnBet for AML and social responsibility failures, and in July a £4.75 million settlement by Evolution Malta Holding over games that appeared on unlicensed websites.

Suspension First, Findings Later Is Now the Commission's Pattern With Small Operators

The three suspensions share a shape. Each involves a smaller British bookmaker, each is imposed at the start of a review rather than at its end, and each leaves customers able to withdraw while the business stops taking bets. For a large operator the Commission typically investigates while the business trades and publishes a settlement at the end. For a small one, a suspended remote licence can be decisive on its own, because an online book that cannot take bets for weeks or months loses its customers whatever the review eventually finds. That makes the suspension power the Commission's sharpest tool, and one to watch for proportionality as well as effect.

The AML Bar Does Not Scale Down With the Operator

The Commission's anti-money laundering expectations apply in full to a small bookmaker's website as much as to a listed group, and they have been rising: source-of-funds checks, customer risk assessments and ongoing monitoring all require resources that a small remote operation may struggle to staff. A bookmaker whose remote licence dates from the last two years, as Focus Gaming News reports Targetlocal's does, is exactly the kind of business for which the compliance cost of remote gambling arrives faster than the revenue. Whether Targetlocal's review ends in restored trading, conditions or revocation, the message to the rest of the market's smaller licensees is the same: the Commission is prepared to switch off an online licence for as long as a review runs.

The review has not concluded, and iGaming Times has not seen a public statement from the operator. What it finds will determine whether this is a fixable gap or the end of Ken Howell's online business.