Home > Strategy > Management > Playtech board reshuffles risk, compliance and audit committees

Playtech board reshuffles risk, compliance and audit committees

| By Robert Fletcher
Playtech has announced a series of changes to its board committees, with the existing risk and compliance committee to partly merge with the audit committee.
OPAP Karas Chairman

The partial merger will create the audit and risk committee, which will be chaired by Ian Penrose. A senior independent non-executive director, Penrose has served on the Playtech board since 2018.

Joining Penrose will be non-executive directors Linda Marston-Weston and Samy Reeb, both serving as ordinary members. 

Meanwhile, the compliance aspect of the existing risk and compliance committee will now become part of a new committee. This, Playtech said, will be named the regulatory and compliance committee.

Reeb will lead the new committee as chair, with support from Penrose and Anna Massion, another non-executive director, as ordinary members.

Changes will come into effect from 1 June. No other committees at Playtech will be impacted by the reshuffle.

Playtech revels in Americas B2B growth

The announcement comes just days after Playtech published a trading update for the first four months of the year. Playtech said it delivered a “solid” trading performance across both its B2B and B2C segments.

In terms of B2B, Playtech referenced revenue growth in regulated markets, led by the US and Canada. The group also said it continues to benefit from tighter cost control as well as “rapid expansion” in the live market.

Looking to B2C, praised Italy-facing Snaitech, which it said performed well on an underlying basis. The group also noted wagers showed strength across the online and retail betting segments.

Caliplay uncertainty remains

The publication also featured an update on the ongoing dispute with Caliplay. A joint venture with Mexico-facing operator Caliente, Caliplay is seeking to end its legal relationship with Playtech.

The case dates back more than 12 months, with both parties going back and forth over a disagreement on certain fees. This eventually led to Caliplay launching legal proceedings to annul its partnership with Playtech in October last year.

Hitting back, Playtech set out steps to resolve the dispute. It also said actions by Caliplay in Mexican court proceedings contravene contractual agreements under an agreement that was established in 2014.

Playtech went on to make further claims against Caliplay in terms of unpaid fees when announcing its full-year results in March. Playtech has made further claims against Caliplay in terms of unpaid fees. 

As for the latest development, Playtech believes it has visibility over substantially all revenue generated by Caliplay and that Caliplay continues to perform strongly. It has been unable to obtain full financial information from Caliplay during the period. 

As such, revenue generated from the additional B2B services element of the agreement is partly based on an estimation. This, it adds, takes account of prior trends and information provided.

However, Playtech also took the opportunity to reiterate that Caliplay is a “highly important customer” and it continues to maintain an open dialogue to discuss a path forward. 

Subscribe to the iGaming newsletter