Compliance is a prerequisite for our business, and we are subject to strict rules and provisions in the countries and regions in which we hold licences. At Kindred, all employees are accountable for compliance being upheld. Our ambition is to ensure that in a highly regulated industry, our operations always meet the highest professional, compliance and ethical work standards.
Cooperation to ensure sustainable regulation
We understand that gambling needs to be regulated in a stable manner to ensure protection that considers both the needs of the individual customer and wider social impacts, resulting in the channelling of digital customer demand to the regulated framework. A high level of channelling of customers to licensed operators is beneficial to customers who are better protected, and to broader society as operators are able to support local communities through taxes, sponsorship of grassroots sports and other local initiatives.
To ensure channelling, operators must be able to offer their customers a value-adding offer, including premium user experience and financial value. When taxes are too high and the consumer experience is not aligned to the digital market reality, channelling will be undermined, customers will look outside the licensed offer for entertainment and the purpose of the regulated market is missed. Kindred has worked for many years in cooperation with legislators, regulators, industry bodies and other stakeholder groups to ensure that gambling regulation achieves a relevant sustainable environment. We are active members of all gambling trade associations in our markets and strive through collaboration with peers to further streamline the communication on policies from the industry.
Tackling money laundering
We take crime prevention very seriously. Our systems and controls are designed to keep money launderers and other criminals away from our platform across multiple jurisdictions. We require all employees to participate in regular anti‑money laundering (AML) training, and we provide further training targeted to those groups who are tasked with detecting and preventing money laundering. Our global Anti-Money Laundering/ Counter-Terrorism Financing Policy, together with our research-based systems and tools, provide the foundation for all of our employees to recognise and adhere to requirements in this area.
Collaboration between operators, authorities, regulators and other partners is crucial if we are to improve techniques and tools to fight fraudulent behaviour across digital platforms. During 2020, we have continued to roll out our updated AML framework. The work on the updated framework included improving our detection capability using data science models in monitoring and customer profiling, optimising our data and evidence gathering, and implementing a fully audited process.
Contributing to a sustainable economy
As one of the largest gambling operators in the world with millions of customers, more than 1,550 employees, and hundreds of suppliers, Kindred makes an important contribution to sustainable economic growth. We generate government revenues through the taxes we pay, and we stimulate economic growth through higher production and a focus on innovation as well as through direct and indirect employment.
In 2020, we made a total tax contribution of almost GBP 272 million. Kindred is determined to fulfil its global tax obligations by operating in full compliance with all local and international tax laws as well as OECD transfer pricing guidelines. We pay taxes in accordance with local regulations in all the countries we operate in. We manage tax costs and risks carefully, and by reporting and paying taxes as due, we have established a reputation for being responsible and compliant.
Sustainability goals
We strive to ensure that our operations always continue to meet the highest professional, compliance and ethical standards
- Expand employee awareness and knowledge of gambling regulations and internal policies, so that we empower our employees in all compliance matters related to their roles, whilst ensuring everyone becomes an active participant in the identification and mitigation of compliance risks.
- Encourage a practice of inter-departmental transparency and support employees in investing additional time and resources dedicated to ‘following-up’ on compliance incidents by growing internal collaboration within Kindred’s Compliance Incident Process.
- Reinforce the Compliance and Governance model by adopting a set of techniques and methodologies to measure quality in all present and future processes, to act as a foundation for a value‑adding Quality Management System.
Read more about our approach to running a compliant business in our annual Sustainability Report.
