The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has identified 535 violations of the national self-exclusion register, BetStop, by Entain Group, which operates bookmakers Ladbrokes AU and Neds AU. This investigation spanned from September 2023 to November 2024 and involved seven complaints along with a sample of 50 clients.
In response to the findings, Entain has committed to an 18-month independent audit of its compliance systems and processes, as well as the implementation of the audit's recommendations. Failure to comply with these commitments could result in financial penalties imposed by the court.
According to the ACMA report, Entain was found to have opened new accounts for individuals already registered with BetStop and failed to close existing accounts after clients opted for self-exclusion. The group's systems did not effectively identify or link all accounts belonging to a single client between Ladbrokes AU and Neds AU. In one instance, an account remained open for 431 days post self-exclusion.
The regulator also discovered that Entain used abbreviated client names during registration, disregarding KYC provider data regarding full names from identification documents, which reduced the likelihood of matching with BetStop. ACMA had notified the company about complaints regarding multi-accounting since December 2023, but Entain only implemented a unified client profile system between Ladbrokes AU and Neds AU in December 2024. Additionally, the regulator noted insufficient promotion of BetStop in Entain's client SMS, email, and push notifications.