Acknowledgement of AUSTRAC Proceedings
THIS ANNOUNCEMENT CONTAINS INSIDE INFORMATION
Entain plc
("Entain" or the "Group")
Acknowledgement of AUSTRAC's commencement of civil penalty proceedings
Entain plc (LSE: ENT), the global sports betting and gaming group, acknowledges that the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre ("AUSTRAC", the Australian anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing regulator) has today commenced civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court of Australia against Entain Group Pty Ltd, the Group's subsidiary in Australia ("Entain Australia"). AUSTRAC's media release published in connection with the commencement of these proceedings can be found on AUSTRAC's website at the following address: https://www.austrac.gov.au/news-and-media/media-release/austrac-takes-ladbrokes-and-neds-operator-entain-federal-court-over-serious-non-compliance-australias-money-laundering-laws. Entain is carefully considering the Originating Application and Concise Statement filed and served by AUSTRAC.
The proceedings against Entain Australia relate to alleged contraventions of the Australian Anti-Money Laundering and Counter-Terrorism Financing Act 2006 (the "Act"), identified as part of AUSTRAC's enforcement investigation of Entain Australia. The Act requires those it regulates to identify, mitigate and manage risks of money laundering and terrorist financing. As the Group has previously disclosed, this investigation was announced by AUSTRAC in September 2022.
Entain has co-operated fully with AUSTRAC throughout its investigation, and in December 2022 commenced a programme of further enhancements to Entain Australia's anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing ("AML and CTF") systems and processes. This dedicated programme, as communicated to AUSTRAC, is due to be completed in June 2025.
We note the previous penalties in AUSTRAC proceedings in the gaming sector and, whilst the outcome of the civil penalty proceedings against Entain Australia is uncertain, it may result in a penalty being levied which could be potentially material. The level of any penalty is ultimately a matter for the Federal Court of Australia, which proceedings may take some time.
Gavin Isaacs, CEO of Entain, commented:
"We note the allegations made, which we take extremely seriously.
We have co-operated fully with AUSTRAC throughout its investigation and we are implementing further enhancements to Entain Australia's AML and CTF compliance arrangements. Whilst we still have some further improvements to make, we expect these to be implemented in line with the plan we communicated to AUSTRAC in 2023.
We are committed to keeping financial crime out of gambling and continue to play our part in supporting a well-regulated and compliant sector for our customers, stakeholders and the wider community."
Entain will make such further announcements in relation to this matter as required.
This announcement contains information that qualifies or may qualify as inside information within the meaning of Article 7 of the Market Abuse Regulation (EU) No. 596/2014 as it forms part of English law by virtue of the European Union (Withdrawal) Act 2018. The person responsible for releasing this announcement on behalf of the Entain is Simon Zinger, Group General Counsel.
Upon the publication of this announcement via a regulatory information service, this inside information is now considered to be in the public domain.
Enquiries:
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Investor Relations - Entain plc |
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Media - Entain plc |
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Sodali & Co UK - Rob Greening/Russ Lynch/Sam Austrums Australia - Stephen McMahon |
+44 (0) 20 7250 1446 +61 (0) 407 507 415 |
About Entain plc
Entain plc (LSE: ENT) is a FTSE100 company and is one of the world's largest sports betting and gaming groups, operating both online and in the retail sector. The Group owns a comprehensive portfolio of established brands; Sports brands include BetCity, bwin, Coral, Crystalbet, Eurobet, Ladbrokes, Neds, Sportingbet, Sports Interaction, STS and SuperSport; Gaming brands include Foxy Bingo, Gala, GiocoDigitale, Ninja Casino, Optibet, Partypoker and PartyCasino. The group operates the TAB NZ brand as part of a long-term strategic partnership with TAB New Zealand. The Group owns proprietary technology across all its core product verticals and, in addition to its B2C operations, provides services to a number of third-party customers on a B2B basis.
The Group has a 50/50 joint venture, BetMGM, a leader in sports betting and iGaming in the US. Entain provides the technology and capabilities which power BetMGM as well as exclusive games and products, specially developed at its in-house gaming studios. The Group is tax resident in the UK and is the only global operator to exclusively operate in domestically regulated or regulating markets operating in over 30 territories.
Entain is a leader in ESG, a member of FTSE4Good, the DJSI and is AAA rated by MSCI. For more information see the Group's website: www.entaingroup.com.
Important notices
Certain statements in this announcement are forward-looking statements which are made in good faith, including with respect to Entain's current expectations, intentions and projections regarding its future performance, strategic initiatives, anticipated events or trends and other matters that are not historical facts and which are, by their nature, inherently predictive, speculative and involve risks and uncertainty because they relate to events and depend on circumstances that may or may not occur in the future. All statements that address expectations or projections about the future, including statements about operating performance, strategic initiatives, objectives, market position, industry trends, general economic conditions, expected expenditures, expected cost savings and financial results are forward‐looking statements. Any statements contained in this announcement that are not statements of historical fact are, or may be deemed to be, forward‐looking statements. These forward-looking statements, which may use words such as "aim", "anticipate", "believe", "could", "intend", "estimate", "expect", "may", "plan", "project", "will" or words or terms of similar meaning or the negative thereof, are not guarantees of future performance and are subject to known and unknown risks and uncertainties. There are a number of factors including, but not limited to, commercial, operational, economic and financial factors, that could cause actual results, financial condition, performance or achievements to differ materially from those expressed or implied by these forward-looking statements. Many of these risks and uncertainties relate to factors that are beyond Entain's ability to control or estimate precisely, such as changes in taxation or fiscal policy, future market conditions, currency fluctuations, the behaviour of other market participants, the actions of governments or governmental regulators, or other risk factors, such as changes in the political, social and regulatory framework in which Entain operates or in economic or technological trends or conditions, including inflation, recession and consumer confidence, on a global, regional or national basis. Given those risks and uncertainties, readers are cautioned not to place undue reliance on forward-looking statements. Forward-looking statements speak only as of the date of this announcement. Entain and its affiliates, and any of its or their respective directors, officers, partners, employees, advisers or agents (collectively, "Representatives") expressly disclaim any obligation or undertaking to update or revise publicly any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise unless required to do so by applicable law or regulation.
In particular, no statement in this announcement is intended to be a profit forecast or profit estimate and no statement of a financial metric (including estimates of EBITDA, profit before tax, free cash flow or net debt) should be interpreted to mean that any financial metric for the current or future financial years would necessarily match or exceed the historical published position of Entain and its subsidiaries. Certain statements in this announcement may contain estimates. The estimates set out in this announcement have been prepared based on numerous assumptions and forecasts, some of which are outside of Entain's influence and/or control, and is therefore inherently uncertain and there can be no guarantee or assurance that it will be correct. The estimates have not been audited, reviewed, verified or subject to any procedures by Entain's auditors. Undue reliance should not be placed on them and there can be no guarantee or assurance that they will be correct.
This announcement is being issued by and is the sole responsibility of Entain. No representation or warranty, express or implied, is or will be made as to, or in relation to, and no responsibility or liability is or will be accepted by or on behalf of, Entain (apart from the responsibilities or liabilities that may be imposed by the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, as amended or the regulatory regime established thereunder) or by its affiliates or any of its Representatives as to, or in relation to, the accuracy, adequacy, fairness or completeness of this announcement or any other written or oral information made available to or publicly available to any interested party or its advisers or any other statement made or purported to be made by or on behalf of Entain or any of its affiliates or any of its Representatives in connection with Entain and any responsibility and liability whether arising in tort, contract or otherwise therefore is expressly disclaimed.
LEI: 213800GNI3K45LQR8L28
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