Gambling Commission suspends BresBet and Bet St George licences

The Gambling Commission has suspended the operating licences of BresBet and Bet St George while it investigates suspected anti-money laundering and social responsibility failings.

The suspensions took immediate effect on 28 August and apply to BresBet Ltd, which operates bresbet.com, and Bet St George Ltd, the company behind betstgeorge.com.

Formal reviews of both licences are now underway under section 116 of the Gambling Act 2005. The regulator said the suspensions would remain in place until it was satisfied that the two businesses were compliant.

The Commission has not disclosed the specific failings suspected at either operator. The reviews are ongoing, meaning no final finding of non-compliance has yet been reached.

“The suspensions will remain in place until the Commission is satisfied the businesses are compliant.”

Customers can continue making withdrawals

Both operators have been instructed to treat customers fairly and keep them informed about any developments affecting their accounts. The suspensions do not prevent customers from accessing their accounts or withdrawing money. BresBet and Bet St George must also remain contactable through their respective websites while the reviews continue.

The Gambling Commission commonly includes these requirements when suspending an operator to protect customers and ensure account balances remain accessible during an investigation. Neither company had publicly responded to the suspensions at the time of writing.

Bet St George suspended within six months of launch

The regulatory intervention comes less than six months after Bet St George entered the British market in March 2026. The sportsbook launched ahead of the Cheltenham Festival with a focus on English sport. Chairman and founder Nic Brereton said at the time that opportunities remained for smaller bookmakers despite rising costs and an increasingly challenging tax environment.

BresBet has operated in Britain for considerably longer, having made its market debut in September 2021 with an initial focus on horse racing and greyhound racing. Although BresBet Ltd and Bet St George Ltd are separate companies with individual operating licences, public records show several connections between them.

Companies House records for BresBet and Bet St George list Brereton as an active director of both businesses. The companies also share the same registered address in Sheffield. Sarah Laycock, previously a director of both companies, resigned from the two positions on 10 August, 18 days before the licence suspensions were announced.

Remote betting remains high risk for money laundering

The action follows the publication of the Gambling Commission’s latest assessment of money laundering and terrorist financing risks across the British gambling industry. The regulator continues to classify remote betting as a high-risk sector.

Its July report identified a range of operator-side vulnerabilities, including inappropriate AML thresholds, inadequate customer and transaction monitoring and insufficient scrutiny of source-of-funds documents. Weak controls surrounding linked or duplicate accounts were also assessed as a high risk, while shortcomings in staff training and due diligence were highlighted across the remote betting sector. The report was not specifically linked to the BresBet and Bet St George investigations. However, the suspensions show that the Commission is prepared to prevent operators from trading while suspected AML and safer gambling failures are examined.