Australian watchdog launches probe into Entain

Australia’s financial crimes watchdog has launched an enforcement investigation into Entain Group, the owner Ladbrokes and Coral, over money laundering concerns.

In a statement released on Monday, the Australian Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac) said the probe would assess if the UK firm had complied with Australia’s anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism (CRT) financing laws.

Nicole Rose, chief executive of the government agency, said: "Reporting entities have a responsibility to ensure they identify, assess and manage risks of money laundering and terrorism financing, develop adequate processes and devote the necessary resources to the AML/CRT Act."

Austrac did not provide further details, other than to confirm that the enforcement investigation followed an extensive supervisory campaign" looking at the corporate bookmakers sector.

In a brief statement, Entain said it was co-operating with Austrac. It also noted that the probe related to the period between July 2016 and June 2020 only.

Like many countries, online betting saw a boom in Australia after lockdown restrictions closed physical gambling shops. Entain has around a sixth of Australia’s online better market, according to Reuters.

The gambling and gaming group was last month fined £17m by the UK’s betting regulator, the Gambling Commission, for "completely unacceptable anti-money laundering and safer gambling features".

As at 1015 BST, shares in the blue chip were ahead 1% at 1,226.5p.