MPs lay the boot in over KiX

Football Index beefs, Kindred’s calming words, Hurst’s BGC challenge, esports’ anti-corruption drive +More

Apr 25, 2024

MPs warn of Football Index parallels with new trading game KiX.
In +More: 888’s marketing kerfuffle, BettingJobs’ Jobsboard.
Kindred plays down Dutch online slot ban fears.
The challenge facing new BGC CEO Grainne Hurst.
Esports Integrity Commission releases an anti-corruption tutorial.

MPs take shots at KiX

A KiX in the teeth: After a report surfaced in The Sunday Times linking former Football Index chief executive Adam Cole to new crypto-based football trading platform KiX, the collapse of FI has again surfaced in the House of Commons.

Twist and shout: The debate, led by Labour MP Liz Twist, saw contributions from a total of 10 members of parliament and a response from the current gambling minister, Stuart Andrew.

Twist again, like we did last summer: Twist called on Andrew to sanction an independent review of the complete evidence developed by the Football Index Action Group, led by David Hammel, one of the many who lost money when the pyramid scheme collapsed.

She emphasized the independent Sheehan report was “fundamental to exposing some of the regulatory failures.”
The MP added that the report acknowledged the “significant time constraints under which it was produced” leading to evidence that has since been discovered not being taken into account.

Misery index: Mentioning the new crypto-based venture linked with Cole, Twist commented that KiX is “dangerous and has the potential to bring misery to more people.” She further highlighted StocksFC, a company that has been operating for a year. Hammel described Cole’s involvement in a new product as a “real kick in the teeth.”

Throughout the debate, MPs highlighted what they see as the failings of the UKGC and the FCA, which both shirked responsibility for the regulation of the “novelty” product.
They urged the government to place assurances that history shall not repeat itself, claiming “it is the very least that the victims of Football Index deserve.”

Truly, madly, deeply: Turning the attack on the sector generally, Labour’s Justin Madders outlined Trustpilot reviews for many of the biggest operators had “a litany of tales about frozen accounts, withheld funds and appalling customer service.”

“It seems that even more straightforward gambling propositions are able to get away with far too much, so it should be little surprise when an unusual scheme, which was unsustainable by design, also escapes attention.”

I’m a survivor: The minister provided a vintage politician’s performance in refusing to commit to anything. He dismissed early KiX concerns, stating that the product is “in a test phase and is not currently live.”

He did, however, mention that Labour’s Carolyn Harris, Twist and their party colleague Ruth Cadbury are already in discourse with the UKGC about potential future regulation.
Andrew did not outright dismiss the potential for another independent investigation, mentioning he is considering “whether it would be appropriate” for further evidence to be examined.

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888’s London kerfuffle

Mad men: 888 would appear to be ruffling feathers with its latest marketing campaign, with a noted public health campaigner Henrietta Bowden-Jones posting on X about an ad on the London Underground that uses the slogan “This carriage is now a casino.”

Tagging London Mayor Sadiq Khan, who has previously included a campaign promise to ban gambling advertising on London transport, she asked: “When is this going to stop?”

Similarly highlighting the campaign was Fitzdares CEO William Woodhams, who independently criticized 888’s marketing efforts. Posting a picture on X of an ad at a bus stop, which says “Your bus is also a casino,” Woodhams complained that he spends 60% of his time on compliance “to protect my business” and “then a 20-year-old marketing trainee in Malta does this.”

Pennsylvania: A report from Penn State University and the Pennsylvania Department of Drug and Alcohol Programs has found participation in online gambling on the rise, with 16% of adults saying they had gambled online vs. 11% previously.

The study found that those who gamble online and in person spend around $708 a month and those who gamble exclusively offline spend around $103 per month.

EGBA has welcomed the European Parliament’s approval of the EU’s new AML framework, saying that online gambling operators “will benefit from a single rulebook and harmonized reporting requirements that will unravel national complexities.”

Ukraine’s parliament has voted to liquidate the Commission for the Regulation of Gambling and Lotteries (KRAIL). President Volodymyr Zelenskyy recently banned the military from accessing online gambling.

Curaçao: The Dutch authorities have set a new deadline of June 30 for the establishment of the National Ordinance for Games of Chance (LOK). Two previous deadlines have already been missed.

Ireland: Horse Racing Ireland has warned that the proposed ban on gambling advertising on TV and radio between 5.30am and 9pm is unlikely to be removed from the upcoming Gambling Regulation Bill. The racing industry has cautioned that the move will make the broadcasting of horseracing unviable.

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Kindred plays down Dutch slots fears

pink flowers near city buildings during daytime

Don’t panic: Kindred CEO Nils Andén sought to soothe investor worries over the recent moves in the Dutch parliament to introduce a bill that would effectively ban online slots, suggesting that three of the four parties likely to form the next government voted against the motion.

He warned the proposal to ban “high-risk” online gambling went against the very precepts of regulating online gambling within the country.

All that we have fought for: “If you take a step back, the main ambition of the gambling reform in the Netherlands was to drive channelization,” he told analysts on the company’s Q1 call yesterday. “I think this motion goes pretty much directly against those main objectives of the gambling reform,” he added.

“It’s fair to say we are following this closely,” Andén noted.

Didn’t think it through: Looking at the same issue, the team at Regulus made a similar point about channelization. “The government and the regulator has also made it clear that channeling matters a great deal to successful regulation, which wholesale product bans utterly defeat,” the team said.

But they noted that the parliamentary challenge to effective regulation is “unlikely to go away.” “The broad, if likely rather thoughtless, support that the motion gathered is instructive as to the underlying mood.”

The challenges facing the BGC

Hurst locker: When Grainne Hurst gets her feet under the desk at the Betting and Gaming Council, where she will replace departing CEO Michael Dugher in the coming months, she will be battling on behalf of a sector that is still grappling with the fallout from the publication of the government’s Gambling Act Review White Paper this time last year.

Shoes to fill: Dugher has imprinted his pugnacious approach on an organization since he was appointed as the BGC’s founding CEO in 2019 and will be replacing Brigid Simmonds as chair.

But sources suggested the industry will be hoping Hurst will steer a different course at a time when the sector faces different challenges than prior to the White Paper’s publication.
“We probably need something different now from our trade body,” said one industry executive who spoke to Compliance+More on condition of anonymity.

The focus of the BGC is likely to change post-White Paper suggested another industry insider, with the sense that the organization needs to “pivot away” from the more political focus of recent years that fitted with Dugher’s background as a politician.

Coming from Entain where she is currently corporate affairs director, Hurst brings what the industry insider suggested was a necessary amount of industry experience.
“It’s something that Dugher and indeed the BGC as a whole has lacked,” they added.
“The BGC was formed in Michael’s image – he loves the rough and tumble of Westminster – but what is needed now is arguably the more prosaic stuff.”

Line by line: What lies ahead for the sector is a tussle with the UK Gambling Commission over the implementation of the White Paper proposals including the much-anticipated financial risk and vulnerability checks.

“The job now is about negotiating with the regulator,” suggested the executive. “This is where we want to see the BGC shifting its approach.”
“It's critical now,” suggested the insider, who noted the industry was “making for peace now rather than war.”
“The more granular details will be that much more important,” they added. “It will be about getting the small details right.”

This will be particularly important when it comes to dealing with the Commission, which In Andrew Rhodes also has a relatively new CEO. “The BGC needs to shift focus more on the relationship between the sector and its regulator,” suggested the leading executive.

“From a White Paper perspective, there are so many work streams being driven by the Commission,” they added.
“We’ve had conversations with the BGC for a while now about adding more resource in that area.”

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ESIC tutorial

A small piece of the jigsaw: The Esports Integrity Commission has released a free-to-complete Anti-Corruption Tutorial geared towards esports professionals to educate them about corruption risks and match-fixing prevention strategies.

ESIC, since its inception in 2016, has been “taking responsibility for disruption, prevention, investigation and prosecution of all forms of cheating in esports, including, but not limited to, match manipulation and doping.”

The commission continues to fall victim to one of esports’ biggest problems, namely the ultimate intellectual property holder. Esports is broadly an umbrella term, akin to sports, and having one not-for-profit attempt to govern (without any true power) the entire ecosystem is a lofty ask.

The Anti-Corruption Tutorial, made in cooperation with esports-first operator GG.Bet, offers completely free, digestible tutorials on the following modules:

Recognising Corruption
Handling Reporting Obligations
Tools and Strategies for Fair Play
Case Study: Importance of Anti-Corruption Education

Despite the ESIC remit only covering certain game titles and the commission having limited tournament organizer partnerships (not for want of trying) the tutorial is free to players of any game and provides a basic education for the wider industry.

Whereas college sports-betting breaches and NBA bans will grab the headlines, esports continues to have a tumultuous time with match-fixing and betting scandals.
Recently, Mobile Legends: Bang Bang (MLBB) competitor Nik ‘Dominus’ Muhyyiddin received a suspension by MPL Malaysia, the country’s leading MLBB league, for attempted match-fixing and offering teammates financial incentives to lose a match.
Additionally, the entire Vietnam Championship Series (VCS) in Riot Games’ League of Legends has been postponed until further notice, with 32 individuals temporarily suspended over integrity concerns. Neither fall into the web of ESIC’s 60+ partners, highlighting the difficulty of operating a one-size-fits-all regulatory body in the industry.

Since its inception, ESIC has had 102 players on the sanctions register: 51 came about due to betting offenses, 20 of which resulted in no punishment as discretion was exercised, while the longest ban for betting offenses was 5 years. Also:

4 out of 102 sanctions were related to match-fixing.
3 of 4 were two years in duration.
1 of 4 was a lifetime ban from ESIC-affiliated tournaments.

Calendar

May 6: Gaming in Spain
May 7: SBC Summit North America Player Protection Symposium
May 28-30: IAGA, Washington DC
June 6: Gaming in Holland

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