Gambling Minister Baroness Twycross is confident that the newly-minted illegal gambling task force will garner results as early as later this year.

The taskforce aims to find synergy between companies like Google, Meta and Visa alongside law enforcement agencies to address payments and advertising in the illegal market.

Speaking at the UK Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) AGM, Twycross stated: “I’m determined that, however hard it is for us to achieve this, it will result in fast, effective action.”

Alongside the taskforce, the UK government also allocated a further £26m to fighting the black market as part of November’s budget and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) has launched a consultation on banning British sports teams partnering with unlicensed operators.

Twycross revealed resources will be largely focused on increasing resources to prosecute illegal platforms, enhancing early prevention activities and undertaking further research on the market.

On the sponso..

‘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..