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888 Holdings announced Monday the resignation of its chief executive. It said that it had suspended some VIP accounts in Middle East while it investigated internal compliance issues.
888 announced that Itai Pazner, the CEO of the company, will be stepping down immediately after Yariv Dafna, chief financial officer, had “mutually accepted” to leave the business.
Although 888 had stated in January that Dafna would be retiring at the end March, the company now says that he will continue in his position until the end.
Lord Mendelsohn, a non-executive chair, will assume the executive chair position on an interim basis as the company searches to find a permanent CEO.
This news was announced alongside an additional statement by the company, in which it stated that an internal compliance review revealed that “certain best practice” in anti-money laundering and “know your customer” processes had not been followed for 888 VIP clients in the Middle East.
In the meantime, VIP activities on certain.com markets were suspended indefinitely.
“While additional internal investigations are ongoing, the board has decided to suspend VIP customer accounts within the region, effective immediately. According to 888, the board estimates that the effect will be less than 3% of revenues for the group if the suspensions are not lifted.
888 stated that its current understanding of the problem is that it is isolated to the Middle East.
Mendelsohn stated that the board and I take compliance responsibilities for the group very seriously. The board took decisive action when it was alerted to problems with VIP customers of 888.
“As we build a strong, sustainable business, we will not compromise our compliance approach.”
