Tabcorp Holdings Limited has appointed Michael Fitzsimons as its Chief Wagering Officer.

Mr Fitzsimons will oversee all core wagering functions including digital, retail, tote, trading, product and marketing. The position is part of the company’s evolved Executive Leadership Team structure, which was announced in December last year. The simpler structure will ensure all wagering functions will fall under one executive.

Mr Fitzsimons has over 20 years of global sports betting experience across the EU, US and Asia. He is currently Executive Director Wagering at Hong Kong Jockey Club (HKJC) where he leads strategy, trading, marketing, data and product development for fixed odds, parimutuel and lottery products.

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His current role encompasses oversight of one of the world’s largest totes, including the World Pool platform, along with Risk Management of China Sports Lottery’s 120,000 betting branches. Prior to his role at the HKJC, Mr Fitzsimons was Director of International Trading and Operations at The Stars Group. During this time, he successfully launched the PokerStars Sportsbook and relaunched SkyBet in Germany and Italy. Mr Fitzsimons is on the executive of the World Tote Association (WoTA).

Tabcorp Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer elect, Gillon McLachlan, said: “Michael Fitzsimons is one of the world’s most sought after wagering executives and brings extensive global sports betting experience to Tabcorp. He has a deep knowledge of international sports betting, trading and tote. Michael is a rare find – he knows digital and retail wagering and is one of the few people in the world who can connect both to grow a wagering product.

“The creation of a Chief Wagering Officer is a significant uplift in wagering capability within our executive team. The simpler vertical structure brings all levers that grow wagering together under one executive to ensure first class execution.”

Mr Fitzsimons is expected to commence in the first half of 2025. His appointment is subject to relevant regulatory and probity approvals.

Leading gambling law and regulation conference Regulating the Game has announced the latest addition to its 2025 Masterclass Series with KordaMentha to conduct a masterclass titled “ML/TF Risk Assessment – Tips, Tricks, and Missing Bits”.

The masterclass, to be delivered by Kordamentha’s Executive Director, Financial Crime Richard Lee; Director, Financial Crime Skye Arnott; and Manager, Financial Crime Ishaan Singh, will delve into how organisations can conduct meaningful risk assessments that drive actionable outcomes. Attendees will gain valuable insights into tailoring risk assessments to their unique business needs, identifying and addressing often-overlooked areas in risk assessments and leveraging outcomes to strengthen AML/CTF programmes effectively.

The hands-on masterclass is designed to equip participants with the tools and strategies necessary to elevate their organisation’s AML/CTF compliance and risk management practices. It is tailored for compliance professionals, risk managers and industry leaders seeking to build robust AML/CTF programmes.

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“The Masterclass Series is all about empowering attendees with practical skills and actionable insights from leading practitioners,” said Paul Newson, Principal at organiser Vanguard Overwatch.

“KordaMentha’s team brings a wealth of expertise in financial crime, and this session is a must-attend for anyone serious about enhancing their AML/CTF frameworks.”

Alice Saveneh-Murray, partner at KordaMentha, said: “The expectations of regulators in this space continues to increase, especially following the announcement of the AML/CTF Modernisation Reforms. It has never been more critical for AML/CTF professionals to have the skills necessary to conduct a thorough and compliant risk assessment. Our team are pleased to be able to share best practices, strategies and common pitfalls to avoid so participants are empowered meet the requirements of the new regime with confidence.”

Regulating the Game will take place at Sofitel Sydney from 10 to 13 March 2025, bringing together global leaders, regulators, and industry professionals to address key challenges, explore innovative solutions and drive sector leadership. Now in its fifth edition, the conference provides expert content, fosters meaningful discussions on policy and sector challenges and drives innovation to underpin effective and efficient gambling regulation.

AUSTRAC commenced civil penalty proceedings in the Federal Court against Entain Group Pty Ltd (Entain), which operates online betting sites including Ladbrokes, Neds and other online betting brands. The proceedings allege serious and systemic non-compliance with Australia’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) laws.

AUSTRAC CEO Brendan Thomas said the agency considers there were systemic failures in Entain’s approach to its AML/CTF obligations.

“AUSTRAC’s proceedings allege that Entain did not develop and maintain a compliant anti-money laundering program and failed to identify and assess the risks it faced. We are alleging this left the company at serious risk of criminal exploitation.

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“Money laundering is often a symptom of serious criminal activity, including fraud, scams and corruption, all of which have equally serious effects on our communities,” he said.

AUSTRAC’s allegations include that:

• Entain’s board and senior management did not have appropriate oversight of its AML/CTF program, which limited its ability to identify the ML/TF risks it faced and its vulnerability to criminal exploitation.

• Entain operated a 24/7 business through its website and app, which created risks that persons unknown to Entain could access and use Entain’s betting platform including through third party providers.

• Third parties, including businesses and individuals, accepted cash and other deposits on behalf of Entain to be credited into betting accounts in ways that could obscure the proceeds of crime. Cash is less transparent than other forms of money and is at higher risk of being the proceeds of crime.

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• Entain did not have appropriate controls to confirm the identity of customers making these deposits and the source of this money.

• Entain did not conduct appropriate checks on 17 higher risk customers, including examples where Entain did not appropriately deal with the risk that its online betting sites were being exploited by criminals to spend the proceeds of serious crime. This includes allegations that Entain deliberately obscured the identity of some high risk customers, on its own systems, through the use of pseudonyms to “protect their privacy”.

“This is the first time AUSTRAC has brought civil penalty proceedings against businesses operating in the online betting sector, and the Australian arm of Entain is part of one of the world’s largest sports betting and gaming groups,” Mr Thomas said.

“The online betting sector, and all other businesses regulated by AUSTRAC, must take their AML/CTF obligations seriously. This includes ensuring they have appropriate procedures to know who their customer is, even when they rely on third parties to process transactions.”

The action taken is part of AUSTRAC’s ongoing work focussed on gambling businesses in Australia to fight money laundering opportunities in the gambling industry. Following the Federal Court ordering Crown pay $450million in penalties over 2 years in 2023, this year AUSTRAC has seen the Federal Court order SkyCity to pay $63M penalty for breaches to the AML/CTF Act, accept an enforceable undertaking from Sportsbet, continue the Federal Court case against Star and are continuing the regulatory focus on a number of other gambling entities across Australia.

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Additionally, the launch of the money laundering National Risk Assessment this year highlighted the highly exposed nature and vulnerability to money laundering online betting agencies face. This valuable resource has been developed support business better understand and develop appropriate measures to mitigate their risks.

It is now a matter for the Federal Court of Australia to determine whether Entain contravened the Act and, if so, what orders to make. AUSTRAC will not provide further comment on this enforcement action while the matter is before the Court.

Non-confidential Court documents related to the Entain matter will be available on the enforcement actions taken page in due course.

“AUSTRAC continues to actively driving out money laundering opportunities in Australia’s gambling industry and we’ll be tireless in our efforts to remove the ability for criminal to use our financial system to their own gain,” Mr Thomas said.