THE RISING TIDE OF ILLEGAL GAMBLING

“The Rising Tide of Illegal Gambling” 

 
Introduction by session chairman, New Zealand Thoroughbred Racing Chief executive Greg Purcell.

1. This session “The Rising Tide of Illegal Gambling” will be the most important session of the 2016 Asian Racing Conference.
2. The Executive Committee of the Asian Racing Federation believe  you will all leave the session with a greater appreciation of the impact that illegal, unlicensed and unregulated gambling operators have on our sport.
3. The expert panel will outline the heightened risk posed to thoroughbred racing by the size and growth of illegal, unlicensed and unregulated gambling operators, and what the thoroughbred racing industry need to do about.
4. There is a saying “where there is money there is corruption”. This is true in all walks of life and across all commercial environments.
5. Fortunately for thoroughbred racing, and unlike most other sports, wagering has been a cornerstone of our industry since its inception, with formal integrity systems distilled within the Rules of Racing for more than 150 years.
6. Our respective integrity and risk management systems are already highly professional, generally well resourced and continue to improve and evolve.
7. Thoroughbred racing’s integrity is not reliant on the absence of corruption in our sport, but on the success of our integrity and judicial systems, which have proven capable of identifying, investigating, acting and penalising corruption when it occurs.
8. History shows us that “prohibition rarely stems demand”.
9. Legitimate legal wagering operators:
• Work within the laws of the jurisdictions in which they operate;
• Conform with prohibitions and restrictions set out by regulators in relation to the type and frequency of wagering content and the range of wagering products;
• Pay fees to the sports on which they wager; and
• Participate in and support our integrity systems.
10. Illegal, unlicensed and unregulated gambling operators:
• Exploit markets where there is an absence of a legal wagering framework;
• Work outside jurisdictional laws to meet unsatisfied customer demand;
• Avoid playing fees to the sports on which they bet;
• Fall outside most of our current integrity systems; and
• Fall outside harm minimisation and responsible gambling frameworks.
11. Improved digital technology and mobile telephony has enabled illegal and unregulated wagering operators to significantly extend their global reach.
12. At the opening session of the conference we heard:
• HKJC Chief Executive Winfried Engelbrecht-Bresges outline that most racing jurisdictions are economically dependent on wagering revenue;
• Racing Victoria CEO Bernard Saundry state that wagering operators now fund more than 70% of Victoria race club total revenue base;
• Successful thoroughbred racing jurisdictions will continue to be those that can successfully commercialise wagering opportunities; and,
• Maintain public trust and confidence in the integrity of our sport.
13. It is now estimated that the illegal, unlicensed and partially regulated wagering operators have captured up to 80% of the total global sports and race wagering market.
14. Whilst global wagering expenditure with legal wagering operators has stagnated, expenditure with unregulated operators continues to grow.
15. Panellist Martin Purbrick, Director of Security and Integrity at the HKJC will provide us with an overview of illegal betting and how it is controlled by Asian organised crime groups who are becoming transnational.
16. Rupert Bolingbroke, Head of Trading at the HKJC, will explain who bets with illegal operators.
17. Neil Paterson, the Assistant Commissioner of Victoria Police, will provide an overview of Australia’s law enforcement approach to illegal betting and outline his views on the integrated multi-level approach required to combat illegal betting.
18. Tim Moore-Barton, CEO of Betfair Pty Ltd will provide us with his view on the size of the illegal, unlicensed and unregulated wagering market and the competitive advantages these operators hold over legal wagering operators.