Australian Banks Urged to Crack Down on Offshore Gambling

Chief executive officer of Entain Australia and New Zealand, Andrew Vouris, believes banks from Down Under need to step up and improve the monitoring of transactions tied to illegal offshore gaming platforms. 

His comments are born from the growing concerns regarding the large number of websites targeting Australian players that operate from jurisdictions like Curaçao and Anjouan.

Banks “Need to Be Held to the Same Standard”

Speaking at the Regulating the Game conference in Sydney on Monday, Vouris was asked about the offshore market and what could be done to tackle the threat. 

Entain runs major Australian sportsbooks Ladbrokes and Neds and holds exclusive rights to operate sports and racing wagering in New Zealand through the NZ TAB.

“The unspoken thing that I’d like to see [more action around] is the banks,” Vouris said. He was referring to the fact that, unlike licensed wagering providers, Australian banks are not required to monitor transactions in real time or flag unusual spending behavior.

“The banks must know that some of these transactions that are occurring in cash from their customers are going to illegal offshore gaming and wagering operators and they need to be held to the same standard that the regulated wagering operators are here in Australia.”

“It’s a Continuous Merry-Go-Round”

Vouris also praised the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) for its work blocking offshore operators but said more needs to be done.

“If I look at a company like [offshore site] Royal Reels Casino as an example, they’re up to ‘Royal Reels number 189.com’. So, we’ve shut down 188 of them but it’s a continuous merry-go-round. We need to have some prosecution of these directors. That’s what I’d like to see.

“The operators from those jurisdictions are clearly targeting Australians. They understand that it’s an illegal operating environment and yet they continue to target Australians in a way that has got zero regard to problem gambling and harm minimization.”

Vouris, who recently confirmed Entain would bid for three of the 15 online casino licenses under New Zealand’s new Online Casino Gambling Bill, welcomed New Zealand’s approach, describing it as an “opportunity to bring activity back into the light.”

For Australia, however, Vouris acknowledged that legalization does not appear on the horizon. 

Instead, he said the focus should be on disrupting offshore operators and encouraging cooperation among regulators, industry, banks, and technology platforms.