News

The director of the British anti-gambling campaign group Clean Up Gambling, Matt Zarb Cousin, has called for Government action against Football Index after hearing multiple stories from customers who lost massive amounts of money as a result of the gambling operator’s collapse earlier this month. Mr Zarb-Cousin told JOE that the company’s crash had devastated tens of thousands of lives, with the losses accounting for hundreds of thousands of pounds. Surprisingly, on March 5th, Football Index made an announcement of a significant reduction in the payouts of its dividends –…

The gambling regulatory body of the state of New South Wales (NSW) has no intention of rushing any decision-making on the potential acquisition of Crown Resorts from Blackstone Group. It seems that the watchdog’s future actions may be very much affected by the report of Commissioner Bergin which found that local authorities need to consider a proper response to the findings about the Australian casino giant’s links to junket operators, money laundering and poor corporate governance. As Casino Guardian already reported, the US private equity firm Blackstone Group has approached…

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has decided to publish more details about the background of its regulatory action into BetIndex Limited, trading as Football Index. The watchdog said it has focused the update particularly on the areas where it has received questions regarding its approach. The gambling regulatory body said that BetIndex Limited was given an operating licence for Remote General Betting Standard Real Event on September 9th, 2015. The UKGC shared that the company is also licenced by the Jersey gambling watchdog. The Commission explained that the current product…

According to media reports, the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) received a warning in January 2020 that Football Index, the gambling operator that got its licence suspended a week ago, was a fraudulent pyramid scheme that operated masked as a football stock market. As revealed by The Guardian, at the time when this information was revealed to the gambling regulatory body, the UKGC was called to immediately take urgent action into the operations of the gambling platform in order to inform and protect the company’s users. Football Index started offering its…

UK gambling charity organisation GambleAware has recently published some details for the gambling habits of online gamblers in the country for the first time. The charity has published an interim report to improve understanding of the online gambling market in terms of basic patters of play and their effect on gamblers’ behaviours, especially when it comes to at-risk or problem gambling. The research was conducted by the National Centre for Social Research in partnership with Professor Ian McHale and Professor David Forrest from the University of Liverpool. It is based…

New South Wales-based RSL and leagues clubs have failed to stay on the same side with their industry body and negotiate to try out an alternative to the mandatory gaming card that has been proposed by the state government. The effort that is being made by the Returned and Services League of Australia (RSL) and Services Clubs Association and Leagues Clubs Australia seeks to see a trial of cashless technology implemented in a number of the biggest clubs in NSW to help the authorities tackle rising gambling addiction and money…

The Chief executive officer of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is stepping down, leaving the major gambling regulatory body of the UK headless amid the ongoing Government review of the country’s gambling legislation. Neil McArthur announced that his resignation will take immediate effect and the search for an interim CEO is expected to start soon. Mr McArthur is leaving the organisation after spending almost 15 years with it, as he became part of the UKGC in 2006 and occupied the role of General Counsel before taking over the Chief Executive…

An important law firm that is pursuing to assist Victoria’s Royal Commission into its Crown Resorts’ inquiry seems to have advised the gambling company on its new Barangaroo casino project. The law firm has also worked for the second-biggest shareholder of the Australian casino operator. These findings have prompted both a prominent industry expert and the anti-gambling opposition in the state of Victoria to raise concerns about the potential conflict of interest of the law firm. As mentioned above, Corrs Chambers Westgarth is one of the law firms that have…

The effectiveness of the gambling regulator of Western Australia and its relationship with the Crown Resorts’ casino in Perth is set to be placed within the focus of the state’s Royal Commission and its probe into the gambling operator. Currently, the system of Western Australia’s Gaming and Wagering Commission is being scrutinised after Commissioner Patricia Bergin revealed the results of the investigation in Crown Resorts’ operations in the state of New South Wales in February. The results, however, were found concerning by other Australian states, too, and earlier in March,…

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling-Related Harm (APPG) has approached UK television channels, including Channel 5 and ITV, urging them to put an end to gambling operators’ sponsorship of daytime TV programmes. In the letters sent to the local television channels, the APPG shared that its members were deeply concerned about these sponsorships and pointed out a few examples, including the soap opera “Neighbours” on Channel 5 that is currently being sponsored by Gala Bingo, a brand of the British gambling giant Entain. The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Gambling-Related Harm…