Month: July 2021

The Victorian Royal Commission, which is conducting the investigation into Crown and its activities in the state, ruled Crown should make two payments to cover the underpayment of tax and related interest charges.

The Commission said a payment of $37m should be made to the Victorian Commission for Gambling and Liquor Regulation (VCGLR), representing an underpayment of casino tax by Crown Melbourne in the period from the 2012 financial year to the present day.

This tax was in relation to Crown’s incorrect deduction of certain bonus rewards provided to players in connection with play on Crown Melbourne’s electronic gaming machines.

The Commission also said a further payment of $24m must be made to the state of Victoria as penalty interest on the underpayment of casino tax during the period in question.

Crown notified the VCGLR that it has now paid the state approximately $61m, covering both the charges cited by the Victorian Royal Commission. 

The operator added that it is continuing its review of other aspects of casino tax payments and will update the market once complete. This includes a review of Matchplay, the loyalty promotion pursuant to which Crown Rewards Points are redeemed for credits for use in electronic gaming machines.

Once the Victorian Royal Commission has delivered its final report on Crown, the VCGLR will finalise its consideration of Crown’s potential casino tax underpayments to establish how much in total it owes in tax.

The Victorian Royal Commission’s investigation into Crown and alleged money laundering and tax evasion in the state has been ongoing for some time now, but the inquiry last week heard that Crown is still “not a suitable licensee”. 

Adrian Finanzio, the counsel assisting the Commission into Crown pointed to AML failings and tax evasion efforts and argued that Crown may never be seen as suitable in the public eye.

Finanzio said that the Bergin Inquiry into Crown’s suitability to hold a licence in New South Wales revealed major flaws, and that – based on the evidence submitted to the Commission in Victoria – the operator remains an unsuitable licensee.

The deadline for this investigation was recently extended from 1 August to 15 October.

Yesterday (26 July), the Western Australian government also extended its Royal Commission into Crown until March 2022 following a request from commissioners for more time to carry out their investigations.

The inquiry was initially due to run until November 14 this year, but the Royal Commission requested additional time to ensure its activities “properly serve the public interest” and produce a report and recommendations in line with expectations.

The new deadline for the Royal Commission – which will examine Crown suitability as a licensee to operate its Perth venue in the state – is now set for 4 March 2022.

The Victoria tax charge is not the first payment Crown has had to make in response to regulatory investigations into its activities, with the operator in May having also been ordered to pay a total of $22.5m as part of measures set out by the New South Wales Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority.

Crown was told to pay $12.5m towards the inquiry, and also pay an annual Casino Supervisory Levy of $5.0m in both FY2021 and FY2022, after the regulator found Crown “unsuitable” to operate a casino in the Barangaroo district of Sydney in February.

Concerns over regulatory probes led to Star Entertainment Group last week withdrawing its proposal to merge with Crown. However, Star said it still believes that “substantial benefits” could be unlocked by a merger with Crown, but current uncertainty meant it was unable to continue at the present time with the merger.

The Safer Gambling Standard is GamCare’s independent quality standard that assesses the measures businesses have put in place to protect customers from gambling-related harms, recognising companies that have player protection measures in place.

Playtech received the standard in recognition of its casino product and platform operations licensed in Great Britain, with GamCare highlighting Playtech’s new ‘Sustainable Success’ strategy and the implementation of an external Stakeholder Advisory Board as examples of good practice in relation to safer gambling. 

GamCare also praised ‘Playtech Protect’, an initiative that groups together all Playtech’s safer gambling and compliance technology, tools, services and solutions, as well as the BetBuddy product, to offer a range of solutions to the market.

“We’re extremely proud to be the first B2B business to receive GamCare’s B2B safer gambling accreditation and we are pleased that GamCare has recognised our efforts to put safer gambling at the heart of what we do,” Playtech’s senior regulatory affairs and compliance manager Richard Bayliss said.

“We know we must continue to challenge ourselves and work with others to identify and develop new products and solutions to meet the needs of customers, licensees and regulators.”

GamCare’s head of safer gambling standards Hayley Jane Smith added: “Playtech’s focus on safer gambling was tested through an in-depth review of its governance, product design, innovation and staff training as well conducting interviews with staff and management at all levels. 

“We look forward to continuing to work with Playtech on the ongoing development of its safer gambling approach and the assessment of its other B2B business operations.”

The award comes after GamCare last month published its new three-year organisational strategy, with the aim of offering universal access to support and treatment for individuals impacted by gambling-related harm.

The arrangement will see the UK-based brand use the Income Access affiliate marketing platform as well as its affiliate management services.

The Pools affiliate programme will provide marketing partners with access to a multi-channel tracking and reporting solution.

Affiliates promoting The Pools will also benefit from a dedicated Income Access affiliate manager who will be available to assist with creative assets and marketing campaigns. 

In addition, affiliates will have the chance to earn up to 35% revenue share. 

“We have been growing digitally, inventing new games for new audiences, while remaining faithful to our heritage,” The Pools marketing manager Andrea Foley said. “Following the launch of The Pools as our new sports betting and casino site along with a mobile app we have joined with Income Access to offer our marketing partners best-in-class reporting, marketing assets, and dedicated support for our new affiliate programme.”

Tara Wilson, chief operating officer at Income Access, added: “The Pools is an exciting brand with an incredibly rich history and we have seen that as the market continues to evolve, so does the brand. 

“By bringing together our team of dedicated affiliate marketing experts with The Pools’ all-inclusive suite of products, we aim to further the company’s acquisition efforts and contribute to the brand’s long-term success.”

The operator has held the rights since its foundation, initially on an indefinite basis, as it was a government-owned monopoly. However, in 2019, the business was privatised through a €1.89bn initial public offering (IPO) .

No longer being a government-owned operator, FDJ paid €380m (£325.0m/$448.4m) to the French state for the continued exclusive rights to offer lotteries and retail betting.

However, this attracted two complaints, alleging the deal violated EU state aid law.

According to European law, member states are prohibited from giving an advantage to “specific companies or industry sectors, or to companies located in specific regions” in a way that affects trade through interventions such as tax rates – although exceptions may be granted on a case-by-case basis, such as for government-owned monopolies.

A statement from the European Commission said: “The Commission will verify the conformity of the remuneration with market conditions and will not exclude not at this stage that the measure could provide an undue economic advantage to the Française des Jeux. 

“The opening of an in-depth investigation gives France and all interested parties the opportunity to comment on the measure at issue. It does not prejudge in any way the outcome of the investigation.”

FDJ maintains it is clear of any wrongdoing, and will be fully co-operative with the European Commission during its investigation.

An FDJ statement said: “FDJ stands, alongside the State, at the disposal of the European and French authorities in the course of these procedures to provide all the necessary elements demonstrating the compliance of this legal framework with French and European law.”

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Game special features:	– Megaways – Jin Ji Bao Xi feature – Free spins – Buy pass (non-UK)
Number of paylines:	117,649
Number of reels:	6
RTP% (recorded/theoretical):	96.06%
Variance/volatility:	Medium
Number of symbols to trigger feature/bonus?	4
Can feature be retriggered?	Yes
Number of free spins awarded?	4-12
Stacked or expanding wilds in normal play?	Single
Stacked or expanding wilds in feature play?	Single
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Though Playtech did not publish figures at this stage, it did state that overall results for the six months to 30 June were in line with its expectations at the start of the year, albeit with a “different mix of contributions” than originally anticipated.

Playtech said a very strong performances within its B2B online business, particularly from Caliente, as well as Snaitech’s online business, offset the impact of the longer-than-expected retail closures in Italy. Retail sites in Italy did not reopen until nearly the end of H1 in mid-June.

Looking to other markets, Playtech said Asia was stable during H1, in line with the levels achieved in H2 2020, while it continued to make progress in its key target growth markets of the US, Latin America and Europe.

In the US, Playtech entered into a multi-state, multi-product deal with Parx Casino operator Greenwood Racingand subsequently launched in Michigan with further launches planned later in 2021 and 2022.

Elsewhere and Playtech secured a strategic agreement with Holland Casino in Europe, a new global distribution deal with Scientific Games and noted continued strong performances from Caliente and others in Latin America.

“While the Covid-19 pandemic continues to pose challenges and the macroeconomic outlook remains uncertain with the possibility of further unexpected lockdowns, given the strong H1 performance and the momentum within the business, the board is confident of the company’s prospects for the remainder of 2021 and beyond,” Playtech said.

The trading update is in line with an early update published on 26 May, when Playtech also set out plans to sell its Finalto financial trading division to a consortium led by Barinboim Group in a deal worth up to $210m (£152m/€178m).

However, earlier this month, Playtech minority shareholder Gopher Investments submitted a counter-offer for Finalto and urged shareholders to vote against Barinboim’s proposal. Gopher’s offer was valued at $250m.

Advisory body Institutional Shareholder Services (ISS) then recommended shareholders vote against Barinboim’s offer in favour of a proposal from Gopher. Gopher then called for the Playtech board to adjourn its upcoming general meeting – where it was set to vote on a bid for Finalto – in order to negotiate further on Gopher’s own offer. 

Despite Barinboim urging Playtech shareholders to honour its “binding agreement” for the Finalto arm and warning against the consequences of negotiating with rival bidder Gopher, Playtech agreed to delay the general meeting until 29 July.

Playtech said it expects to publish a supplementary circular in the coming days to update shareholders on the Finalto sale process.

The total amount donated in the three months to 30 June was 180.5% higher than the £820,000 put forward during the same period last year.

Entain donated a total of £2.0m to the charity during Q1, significantly more than any other gambling business for the period.

The next-highest amount came from Videoslots, which donated £50,000, while Broadway Gaming and Apricot Investments both donated £30,000 to the charity.

Star Racing donated £20,720 in the first quarter, while Virgin Bet submitted £16,892 and Intouch Games £14,100, across three payments of £4,700.

All British Gambling Commission licensees are required to make a contribution towards research, education and treatment. The Commission publishes a list of charities that fulfil this requirement, with GambleAware the only one to qualify for all three of research, education and treatment.

GambleAware asks all businesses who profit from gambling to donate at least 0.1% of their annual gross gambling yield (GGY) directly to the charity.

Aside from donations, GambleAware received a number of pledges, including £65,605 from BetVictor, £10,000 from Mansion Group Holdings and £5,000 from Novomatic.

Other donations came courtesy of One Click (£22,801) and STS.BET (£22,000). GambleAware did not receive any funds from regulatory settlements during the quarter.

Donations in the 12 months ended 31 March climbed 80.9% to £19.0m after major increases in donations from Flutter and Entain.

Those two operators, alongside fellow market leaders Bet365 and William Hill, pledged to donate a total of £100m to improving treatment services for problem gamblers by the end of 2023.

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Number of reels:	5 reels with 3 rows that can expand to 9
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Number of symbols to trigger feature/bonus?	N/A
Can feature be retriggered?	Yes
Number of free spins awarded?	5
Stacked or expanding wilds in normal play?	No
Stacked or expanding wilds in feature play?	No
Number of jackpot tiers?	No
Auto-play function?	Yes

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Game special features:	Xtraways, Free Spins
Number of paylines:	729-262144
Number of reels:	5
RTP% (recorded/theoretical):	92.07%-96.13%
Variance/volatility:	High
Number of symbols to trigger feature/bonus?:	3
Can feature be retriggered?:	No
Number of free spins awarded?:	10
Stacked or expanding wilds in normal play?:	Single Wild
Stacked or expanding wilds in feature play?:	Single Wild
Number of jackpot tiers?:	N/A
Auto-play function?:	Yes