Australia’s financial-crime watchdog has ordered bet365 to overhaul its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing controls after finding serious gaps in how the bookmaker assessed risk and reported suspicious activity. The company has entered a legally binding enforceable undertaking, and could face civil penalties if it fails to comply.
According to the earliest reporting of the move, AUSTRAC said its investigation was triggered by an independent audit of bet365’s business. The regulator said the undertaking requires the bookmaker to reinforce its AML operations and improve the way it identifies and reports suspicious transactions.
The Straight reported that AUSTRAC’s compliance process began after concerns identified in conduct dating from July 2016 to June 2020. In November 2022, the regulator formally directed bet365 to appoint an external auditor.
That audit was delivered in 2023, and an independent review commissioned by bet365 was later provided to AUSTRAC in February 2025. The later review reinforced the regulator’s concerns, and the external audit and the independent review both found that bet365 had failed to adopt and maintain an AML and counter-terrorism financing programme that met legislative requirements.
AUSTRAC acknowledged that bet365 had taken some steps to address the issues, but said more work was still required. It remained concerned that the bookmaker could continue to fall short without further remediation.
Under the undertaking, bet365 must redesign and implement a strengthened risk assessment framework, improve change management processes, enhance customer risk assessment models and bolster systems for identifying and reporting suspicious transactions. The regulator said the undertaking sets minimum standards the company must meet and makes the obligations directly enforceable under both the undertaking and the Act.
The case fits a wider regulatory push across Australia’s gambling sector. The Straight reported that bet365 holds between 5% and 10% of the Australian market, giving the order significance beyond a single operator.
Brendan Thomas, AUSTRAC’s chief executive, said gambling businesses pose an inherent money-laundering risk and that the agency is focusing on the risks to the Australian economy from money laundering through the sector. He also said the industry processes large volumes of money at high speed, often through anonymous digital channels.
Thomas said businesses need to keep improving the systems they use to assess risk and monitor for suspicious activity, because the consequences of weak controls extend beyond a single company. The same regulatory pressure is already being applied elsewhere, with AUSTRAC pursuing Federal Court proceedings against Entain Group and investigating Tabcorp.
bet365 must provide AUSTRAC with a progress report by 31 December, and a final auditor’s report confirming the remediation work is due by mid-2027.
