Rank Group: black market celebrates ‘hit jobs’ on regulated industry

‘Hit jobs’ against the regulated industry have ‘eroded’ regulatory credibility and emboldened the black market, according to Rank Group’s Director of Corporate Affairs and Investor Relations, David Williams.

Speaking on a panel at the Betting and Gaming Council’s (BGC) AGM focused on the balance between tax, regulation and the illegal market, Williams lamented the picture of the industry created by targeted takedowns of the regulated sector over the years.

He said: “For every hit job that there is on the licensed [sector], and I’m not saying we have been without blame down the years, that is not true, but some of it has been excessive. Each time it happens, it generates a round of applause from black market operators because, as the erosion in the credibility of licensed operators happens, the black market celebrates.”

Williams also described the growth of the black market in recent years as a ‘symptom of an imbalance’ between the three factors – a viewpoint shared by Entain’s Grou..