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The UK’s ongoing political betting scandal has shone a light on the immense effort operators take to monitor bets and potential high-risk customers in the regulated market, say experts.
On June 12, Prime Minister Rishi Sunak’s close senior aide, Craig Williams, admitted to placing a bet on when the general election would take place days before it was publicly announced.
Since then, a host of new allegations against politicians and public officials have come to light, dominating the front pages of major national media outlets.
Most recently, a UK Cabinet minister admitted to placing three bets on the date of the general election but denied breaching any rules.
The Gambling Commission has said it is combing through data supplied by operators to identify more politicians, and those close to them, who may have placed wagers on the election date.
Although the scandal is a political disaster for the individuals involved, licensed gambling operators are so far acting as vanguards of integrity in the public eye.
The unfolding saga has helped showcase the effectiveness of integrity and anti-money laundering (AML) systems that Gambling Commission licensees have in place.
David Whyte, a partner at Harris Hagan, said: “Licensed betting operators in Great Britain are required to provide the Gambling Commission with any information that they know or suspect may relate to the commission of an offence under the Gambling Act 2005, or that they suspect it may lead the Gambling Commission to consider making an order to void a bet.
“Not for the first time, the speed at which this betting integrity issue came to light positively demonstrates the progressive nature of the regulatory framework in Great Britain.
“The proactivity of the licensee(s) involved in identifying the suspicious activity, their subsequent investigation, and their prompt notification, should be congratulated,” Whyte told Vixio GamblingCompliance.
Similarly, Steve Ketteley, a partner at law firm Wiggin, told Vixio he believes the scandal “100 percent” looks good on operators as it “highlights the sophistication of their regulatory and commercial monitoring systems”.
“It is important that people do flag the fact that outside of a sophisticated regulated market, or in those where they don't allow political betting, this issue may not have been picked up,” Ketteley said, adding that “the sophistication and speed” of Entain’s system that first flagged the issue is “to be applauded”.
In the UK, the term politically exposed person (PEP) is used in AML regulations to describe anyone entrusted with a prominent public function.
PEPs are subject to enhanced due customer diligence measures under UK gambling regulations, and so are their family members and known close associates.
Ketteley explained that operators are required to categorise PEPs as high-risk “from the get-go” and they will generally do PEP screening during the player registration process.
All PEPs are then subject to mandatory enhanced due diligence and ongoing, enhanced monitoring. That will include monitoring their transactional activity.
Betting integrity issues fall under different regulations in the Gambling Commission’s framework. The Sports Betting Intelligence Unit (SBIU), a unit within the Gambling Commission, deals with reports of betting-related corruption.
“There is no suggestion the election is compromised because of this activity. Political betting, here, won’t manipulate the event, unlike betting integrity issues in sport,” Ketteley said.
When it comes to the next steps, it is likely those undertaking ongoing investigations into political betting will “need to make a judgement” on whether the betting activity reflected “an unfair advantage, and if so, is it in the public interest to pursue it further”, with convictions theoretically possible.
Although that process involves “lots of ‘ifs’”, Ketteley said.
Entain declined to comment on the situation.
There are also growing discussions around a need to reform gambling regulations to prohibit or restrict the ability of those in and around parliament to gamble on politics.
Last night (June 26), Labour Party leader Keir Starmer said during a public debate: “I don’t think we should be lured into thinking this is a problem with the rules; it’s a problem with politicians."
Ed Davey, the Liberal Democrat Party leader, has called for a “review [of] all gambling regulations with respect to politics after this election” and other lawmakers have made similar comments.
London’s Metropolitan Police is now taking over “a small number” of investigations. However, it is worth noting that at least six Met officers are also being investigated over similar political bets.
