Bet365 agrees to remediation plan with Austrac following compliance review

Bet365’s Australian arm, Hillside (Australia New Media) Pty Ltd, has agreed to address identified deficiencies in its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing (AML/CTF) controls, following an investigation by the Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (Austrac).

This will lead to a remediation plan which has been agreed by both parties, Austrac reported last week.

The enforceable undertaking, accepted by Austrac’s chief executive Brendan Thomas in early July 2025, follows a compliance assessment and external audits which examined Bet365’s AML/CTF practices, between 1 July 2016 and 2 November 2022.

Austrac first raised concerns about the company in August 2022, mandating an external audit by November 2022.

At the time of the audit, Austrac chief executive said: “Corporate bookmakers must have robust systems in place to ensure they can manage and mitigate risks associated with money laundering and terrorism financing.

“Businesses without adequate processes in place to manage those risks leave themselves vulnerable to exploitation by criminals.”

Subsequent audit reports, including one dated 12 September 2023 and an independent review in February 2025, confirmed significant shortcomings in the operator’s compliance framework.

Key findings

Austrac’s reports identified a failure by Bet365 to maintain an adequate AML/CTF programme, which is a breach of section 81 of the AML/CTF Act. The regulator also found a lack of any ongoing customer due diligence (OCDD) for certain customers. 

Bet365 formally acknowledged these concerns and voluntarily agreed to undertake remedial actions under section 197. 

The operator will need to complete a revised money laundering, terrorism financing and proliferation financing (ML/TF/PF) risk assessment. This is in addition to an upgrade of customer risk assessment models and an implementation of enhanced control documentation and testing measures.

A final auditor report must be submitted to Austrac by 30 July 2027. This report is to confirm full implementation of the remedial actions. The auditor must also submit a midway progress report, by 31 December 2026.

Austrac’s expectations for the remediation included progress toward AML/CTF reform, improved identification and mitigation of emerging risks. The enforceable undertaking remains active until formally cancelled by Austrac or withdrawn by Bet365.

Other civil proceedings

In December of 2024, Austrac launched civil penalty proceedings against Entain for similar anti-money laundering (AML) and counter-terrorism financing (CTF) failings. 

In a statement provided in December of last year, the operator acknowledged there had been “certain deficiencies” in its previous AML/CTF compliance programme but it disputed some of the allegations and interpretations made by Austrac in its case.