Park Lane Club operator to appeal licence revocation

| By Daniel O'Boyle
Silverbond Enterprises, which operates the Park Lane Club in the Mayfair area of London, will appeal the British Gambling Commission’s decision to revoke its licence.

The operator had its non-remote operating licence revoked by the Commission on Wednesday (4 November) after a change in ownership.

The Gambling Commission said that it could not be confident that it would have granted the business a licence had its new owner been in place when it applied, and so it was required to revoke the licence.

However, Silverbond was given a chance to appeal, which it says it will take.

“Silverbond Enterprises Ltd has confirmed that it will be submitting an appeal to the First Tier Tribunal against the decision of the Regulatory Panel of the Commission to revoke the operating licence,” the business said. “The appeal will be submitted before 18 November 2020.”

The operator noted that the decision of the Commission is stayed, meaning the club may continue to operate as normal, pending the result of the appeal. However, the venue – like all casinos in England – will be closed until at least 2 December under a new national lockdown to limit the spread of the novel coronavirus (Covid-19).

The revocation was not the first disciplinary action Silverbond had faced from the regulator.

In 2016, the regulators began to review its licence. After finding money laundering failures, it imposed additional licence conditions on Silverbond.

In 2018, the Commission undertook additional investigations to ensure it was following these conditions. However it found that many of Park Lane Casino’s top 250 customers did not receive enhanced due diligence checks. As a result, the Commission fined the operator £1.8m in September last year.