Since the beginning of the COVID-19 epidemic, when physical gambling shopfronts were forced to close in stop-start lockdowns over almost two years, online betting has skyrocketed in Australia. London-listed the largest online betting company in Australia, Flutter Entertainment Plc, which also owns Sportsbet, and Entain, which controls roughly one-sixth of the country’s online betting industry through the Ladbrokes brand, both forecast significant revenue growth in calendar years 2020 and 2021.
Entain received a 17 million pounds ($19 million) penalty from the British gaming authority last month for what it called “absolutely unacceptable failings in anti-money laundering and safer gambling.” Between July 2016 and June 2020, Entain said, AUSTRAC had carried out a routine evaluation of the company’s previous anti-money-laundering and counter-terrorism financing policies and processes. The Australian government is looking into probable violations of the laws against money laundering and terrorist financing involving the gaming business that owns Ladbrokes and Sportingbet. The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac), the government’s financial crimes agency, is looking into Entain Group following “a thorough supervisory campaign that evaluated firms within the corporate bookmaker’s industry.” The fine was £14 million because LC International, which manages Entain’s gambling websites, did not comply with license criteria.
A £3 million payment was handed to Ladbrokes Betting & Gaming, which runs approximately 2,700 gaming establishments throughout the UK. The probe revealed “severe shortcomings,” according to Andrew Rhodes, chief executive of the UK Gambling Commission, who made this statement at the time. These included failing to take appropriate action to protect customers at risk of gambling-related harm. Without a doubt, one of the biggest betting teams in the world is Entain. It operates more than 4,400 betting shops in the UK and around Europe, and it collaborates with MGM Resorts on projects in the US. It is the owner of gambling companies including Partypoker and PartyCasino as well as sports betting brands like Bwin and Eurobet. Before Tabcorp attempted a demerger, the firm launched a fruitless attempt to acquire a portion of Australian operator Tabcorp in an all-cash deal.
