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Compliance Updates

SIS awarded ESIC Gold Standards accreditation for Competitive Gaming offering

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Endorsement marks out supplier as only esports betting events provider to officially meet new integrity measures

SIS (Sports Information Services), the leading multi-channel supplier of 24/7 live betting services, has been awarded the Esports Integrity Commission’s (ESIC) Gold Standards, the highest possible accreditation from the industry association.

The award sees SIS become the first esports betting events supplier to meet ESIC’s stringent new criteria, created to set unmatched levels of integrity and safety in the esports betting industry, for its Competitive Gaming portfolio (Esoccer, Ebasketball and CS:GO).

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The purpose of the ESIC Gold Standard is to build on its existing principles by setting out a list of standards for tournament organisers, ensuring that events are run to the highest level of integrity and safety for the benefit of all stakeholders.

With stringent integrity measures in place, SIS Competitive Gaming follows best practice outlined by ESIC in addition to strict operational measures in place to ensure that each event is fair.

Each SIS Competitive Gaming head-to-head match, all of which take place from within SIS’ UK-based self-contained studios, is streamed live with experienced casters providing live in-game commentary. The streams take place through a secure platform that is exclusive to licensed operator sites where the age of the audience has been verified and is not available on open streaming services, meaning there is less danger of toxic messaging of the sort that is often carried on unlicensed sites.

All events are overseen by a dedicated ESIC-trained integrity referee and have a real-time link to SIS’ expert trading team, which closely monitors betting activity. Rigorous gamer competitiveness and predictability tracking measures are in place, through supremacy and volatility reporting, with all events taking place in a jurisdiction with well-respected legal and employment rights.

The new ESIC Gold Standards have been created to elevate transparency and impartiality, and required SIS to meet a number of rigorous requirements across the board, including:

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  • No communication devices allowed anywhere in the gaming studios
  • Minimum of three employed personnel (independent from gamers) watching every event
  • Controlled fixed game settings to ensure fair and competitive play
  • Employees are fully background checked for criminal records, with references taken
  • Ensure all gamers are of sufficient skills and expertise to compete against other pro gamers.
  • ESIC anti-corruption code to be signed by all staff and gamers

SIS continues to work with ESIC to evolve the Gold Standards to improve Integrity and the visibility of clear tangible rules and standards by which tournament organisers should run events.

Adam Conway, Head of Esports & Competitive Gaming at SIS, said: “We are extremely proud to have received this new accreditation, which shines a light on the very high integrity and safety standards we have always put at the core of our Competitive Gaming offering.

“Our operator partners and their customers appreciate our high levels of integrity, such as visible referees invigilating every game, making us the only esports betting events supplier to do so.”

Ian Smith, Commissioner at Esports Integrity Commission, said: “ESIC’s new Gold Standards set heightened levels of integrity and safety in the Esports industry for the benefit of all stakeholders, and through ongoing assessment of SIS’ Competitive Gaming operations, which meet all the key integrity requirements, we are delighted to award SIS with ESIC’s Gold Standards, our highest possible accreditation”.

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Compliance Updates

Taichi Tech Limited Fined £170,000 for Unfair Terms and Conditions

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An online gambling business has been fined £170,000 by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) for regulatory failures including the use of unfair terms and conditions.

Taichi Tech Limited – trading as Fafabet – will also have to undergo a third-party audit to ensure it is effectively implementing its anti-money laundering and safer gambling policies, procedures and controls.

A Commission investigation revealed Taichi Tech Limited had stated that: “Fafabet have the right at their own discretion to close accounts or forfeit winnings” within their bonus terms for new casino promotions.

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The Gambling Commission’s investigation concluded that Taichi Tech Limited breached the fair and open licensing condition by including a discretionary term allowing the operator to close customer accounts or forfeit winnings without clear justification. Such terms lack transparency and may lead to unfair outcomes for consumers.

The Consumer Rights Act 2015 (CRA) is the general consumer protection legislation, and it is explicitly referenced within the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) that gambling companies must follow. The LCCP requires licensees to ensure that their terms and practices are fair, clear, and do not breach consumer protection law. Operators must therefore have regard to the CRA as part of their overall compliance obligations under the LCCP.

The investigation also found failures relating to anti-money laundering and social responsibility breaches.

Examples included:

• some customers were able to gamble large sums within a short period of time, despite the operator holding limited customer information

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• in certain cases, individuals exhibiting potential markers of harm — such as high-velocity spending over short periods — received insufficient customer interaction from the operator

• where safer gambling emails were sent but not acknowledged by the customer and concerning behaviour continued, there was no further follow-up or intervention by the operator.

John Pierce, Director of Enforcement and Intelligence at the Gambling Commission, said: “We expect all operators — regardless of their size or customer base — to comply with consumer protection legislation and ensure their terms and conditions meet regulatory standards.

“Licensed operators must ensure their terms are clear, fair, and transparent, so customers fully understand what to expect.”

He added that the Commission’s assessment identified deficiencies in the operator’s social responsibility and anti-money laundering controls, including failures to effectively manage risk and implement adequate consumer protection measures.

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The operator has acknowledged that it previously fell short of the standards expected by the Commission and has since taken steps to address these shortcomings. As part of the regulatory outcome, the operator is required to commission an independent third-party audit to provide assurance of ongoing compliance with all relevant regulatory requirements.

The post Taichi Tech Limited Fined £170,000 for Unfair Terms and Conditions appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Turnover of Legal Gambling Market in Hungary Increases

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The Regulated Activities Supervisory Authority (SZTFH) has announced that the turnover of the legal gambling market in Hungary has increased.

The SZTFH and its predecessor have been blocking illegal gambling websites since 2014, preventing them from being accessible to Hungarian players. Thanks to the more than two thousand blockings ordered so far in 2024 and 2025, the traffic and turnover of the legal market is sharply increasing compared to the total market, which can be considered a significant improvement compared to the illegal market presence in previous years.

One of the main goals of the SZTFH is to take action against websites offering illegal online gambling that are not licensed in Hungary and the prohibited advertising sites that promote them, and to whitewash the Hungarian online gambling market. In the past two years, several legislative changes have come into force that have resulted in the acceleration and extension of the blocking procedure to advertising and contributing sites, and have created the opportunity to track and immediately block illegal sites that are constantly jumping to new domain names every day in order to evade the authority’s measures. Thanks to the change in the legal environment and the intensive action of the Authority, the number of visits to illegal gambling sites has now decreased significantly.

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In the case of services offered by organisers who are not licensed to organise gambling in Hungary, the Authority has no possibility to oblige the gambling organiser to comply with the guarantee rules protecting the interests of the players, and the claim for the payment of the prize cannot be enforced before a Hungarian court. Gambling organisers who are not licensed by the Authority also violate the interests of the Hungarian State in the economic activity of organising and operating gambling. In addition to the above, by not joining the player protection register kept by the Authority, which prevents players who have been excluded from gambling voluntarily or by a court from participating in gambling, they also constitute an obstacle to the effective enforcement of goals related to player protection.

The SZTFH is committed to the elimination of illegal gambling and the whitening and increasing the competitiveness of the Hungarian gambling market in order to protect the interests of Hungarian players, and therefore will continue its intensive blocking activities with great effort and the use of innovative solutions in the future. Players can find out about the gambling organizers licensed in Hungary and the illegal sites blocked by the Authority on the Authority’s website.

The post Turnover of Legal Gambling Market in Hungary Increases appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Compliance Updates

MGA Signs MoU with MFSA

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The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) had signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Malta Financial Services Authority (MFSA) to enhance the collaboration and reinforcing the long-standing relationship between the two regulatory bodies.

This agreement complements an existing multi-party MoU between the Sanctions Monitoring Board (SMB), the Financial Intelligence Analysis Unit (FIAU), the MFSA and the MGA, which remains in force and governs cooperation in areas related to anti-money laundering, the financing of terrorism and the proliferation of weapons of mass destruction.

While the multi-party MoU continues to provide a robust basis for coordination in these specific areas, the MGA and the MFSA identified the need for a separate bilateral agreement to govern their broader relationship. The newly signed MoU sets out a structure for closer cooperation in areas of mutual regulatory interest, with the aim of supporting each authority in the effective discharge of its respective functions.

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In addition, the MoU includes provisions relating to training and education, with the aim of equipping both authorities with the necessary skills and knowledge in areas where there may be regulatory overlap. This commitment to capacity building is intended to strengthen institutional competencies and support the overall effectiveness of the respective regulatory frameworks.

MGA CEO Charles Mizzi said: “This agreement marks another step forward in our commitment to strengthening inter-agency collaboration. The relationship between the MGA and the MFSA is an important one, and through this MoU we are not only enhancing the exchange of information but also fostering a shared commitment to high regulatory standards and professional development.”

MFSA CEO Kenneth Farrugia said: “The MoU that the MFSA entered into with the MGA is a reflection of our commitment and dedicated efforts to strengthen ties with other local authorities, as we continue to recognise the value of inter-institutional collaboration. This agreement enhances our mutual cooperation on due diligence and enforcement, which is essential in view of the similar players in the respective industries that we regulate and serve. The MoU itself goes beyond the exchange of good practice and intelligence, as it also focuses on the upskilling of our supervisors who are instrumental to the daily operations of both authorities.”

The post MGA Signs MoU with MFSA appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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