The Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ) has imposed a €75,000 fine on a licensed operator for serious breaches of its legal obligations regarding data archiving and transmission.
On 7 July 2025, the ANJ Sanctions Committee imposed a fine of €75,000 on a licensed operator, referred to as Operator X, as the ANJ did not wish to reveal the offending operator. The operator was found guilty of failing to comply with its legal obligations to archive in real time and make permanently available data relating to its customers’ online gaming transactions.
For a period of 25 months, between January 2022 and February 2024, the operator committed two major breaches:
- Exclusions from the archiving system data representing more than €10 million in bets.
- The provision of more than 900,000 faulty traces, which altered the reliability of the checks carried out by the ANJ.
A crucial legal obligation for transparency
Article 31 of the Act of 12 May 2010 requires online operators to archive all data relating to gambling transactions and player accounts in real time, on a secure physical medium located in France (the safe). This data must be available to the ANJ at all times in order to detect fraud, prevent money laundering and monitor excessive gambling behaviour.
The ANJ insists that without reliable access to this information, its control missions are compromised. This is particularly the case for monitoring the player return rate and identifying pathological gamblers, two essential levers for effective regulation of the sector.
Defence rejected: responsibility lies with the operator
Operator X attempted to defend itself by invoking :
- The technical limitations of its old IT system.
- The increasing complexity of the ANJ’s requirements.
- The failings of external technical service providers.
But for the Enforcement Committee, these arguments do not hold up: the operator alone is responsible for the proper functioning of its archiving system, as stipulated in article 25 of the Decree of 19 May 2010.
In addition, the group, which has been licensed since 2010, is considered to be experienced. Its importance in the market, particularly in horse racing and sports betting, has compounded the seriousness of the breach. The committee also highlighted the ineffectiveness of the corrective measures, which are not expected to take full effect until 2026.
An exemplary decision that reinforces the authority of the ANJ
The ANJ was careful to point out that archiving and making data available are not mere administrative formalities, but essential pillars of the regulation of the sector.
The committee considered that the failure to comply had hindered the objectives set out in the Internal Security Code:
- Prevent excessive gambling.
- Ensuring the integrity of gambling operations.
Combating money laundering and criminal abuses.