Europe

The Racecourse Association (RCA) has released a statement welcoming the government’s announcement of the planned relaxation of COVID-19 restrictions on 19 July, emphasising the ‘difficult time’ the pandemic has posed for the industry. Under the government’s plans, a range of COVID-19 safety and social distancing measures will end on 19 July ‘in one go’, although authorities will retain the ‘ability …

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has revealed that the country’s gambling sector has recorded one of its highest growth rates in value added relative to other sectors, but is now making less of a contribution to the island’s economy. As detailed in the MGA’s Annual Report and audited Financial Statements for the financial year ending December 31, 2020,  the country’s …

Nicolai Wammen, Denmark’s Minister of Finance, has stated that his department supports a merger of state-owned gambling operators Danske Spil and Danske Klasselotteri. Reporting to Folketing (parliament), Wammen expressed that a merger would ‘create a better strategic framework’ for the state-owned assets and how their charitable contributions are distributed, benefiting Danish society. Furthermore, Wammen detailed that both companies were in …

The Sports Betting Integrity Forum (SBIF) has relaunched its website and online resources to provide a better platform for informing all relevant stakeholders involved in protecting the UK’s sports integrity. The forum works as the UK’s representative betting integrity body within the Council of Europe’s ‘Macolin Convention’ on the safeguarding of professional sports against manipulation and criminal threats.   The SBIF, …

Entain has issued a statement expressing ‘disappointment’ at the decision by Australian operator Tabcorp Holdings to demerge its Wagering & Gaming and Lotteries & Keno businesses. Making its announcement this morning, Tabcorp revealed plans to establish the aforementioned business sections as independent ASX registered companies – known as Wagering & GamingCo and Lotteries & KenoCo respectively – with jurisdiction across …

 l’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ) has confirmed the appointment of Christel Fiorina as the regulator’s first Market, Compliance and Player Protections Director, helping maintain the market integrity of French gambling’s new unified regulatory era.  A seasoned executive of France’s civil service, Fiorina joins ANJ’s leadership team from DGE – France’s National Enterprise Agency, where she led policy development projects assisting …

Licensing expert David Clifton, Director at ‎Clifton Davies Consultancy, tries to read the runes (or the many strategy documents) to discern what the new Gambling Commission (UKGC) CEO has to deal with during his 18 month tenure. The last month has seen the arrival of a new, albeit ‘interim’, Chief Executive at the Gambling Commission. With an employment background of …

From London to Wall Street, the interim results of global gambling’s listed incumbents will be probed as the industry faces systemic changes inbound during the second-half year trading. Though the finely balanced outcome of the UEFA Euro 2020 Championships will impact incumbents bottom lines – city analysts will be focused on evaluating which companies are best equipped to thrive in …

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has called on the government to strengthen the gambling sector’s customer complaints process by establishing an industry ombudsman. Although a system for dealing with customer complaints already exists, the betting and gaming industry standards body has argued that the creation of an ombudsman would improve consistency of the process as well as its general …

Denis Egan, the CEO of the Irish Horse Racing Regulatory Board (IHRB), has announced his early retirement from the position, effective from 30 September 2021. Egan first joined the Turf Club in 1995 and became the CEO of the organisation in 2001, after which he transformed the regulatory arm of The Turf Club into the IHRB in 2018, taking on …