Swanell hails Northern Territory regulator as a ‘one of the best in the world’

Experienced wagering executive Sam Swanell has described the Northern Territory Racing and Wagering Commission as one of the best regulators in the world, rebuffing suggestions that the burgeoning industry had outgrown the capability of the Darwin-based operation.

Nearly all of Australia’s biggest wagering companies are regulated out of the Northern Territory, with a recent Four Corners episode suggesting the NTRWC had become overwhelmed by the companies it was supposed to regulate.

The Straight understands that the functionality of the NTRWC is also a point of concern for those within the betting industry, who fear that the growth of smaller bookmakers was putting a strain on the system.  

However, addressing a question in the PointsBet annual general meeting, Swanell, PointsBet Group chief executive, backed the performance of the bookmakers’ regulator.

“The Northern Territory regulator is, I can say with confidence, actually one of the best in the world,” he said.

“We’ve had experience now in 14 states of America with 14 different regulators and Ontario, Canada. The regulator is very experienced, has been doing this a long time, knows the areas where to focus on.

“I think our view and the industry’s view of the direction thematic of that Four Corners story was misplaced in terms of criticism of the regulator.”

He said the Northern Territory regulatory model remained superior to those of other Australian jurisdictions.

“The industry has never been better regulated from a responsible gambling perspective and from an anti-money laundering perspective. So standards in the industry are very, very high,” he said.

Meanwhile, PointsBet chairman Brett Paton was re-elected to the board, reiterating his commitment to staying in the position for three years, while promising an open dialogue with betr, who remains the company’s second biggest shareholder.

Finance industry veteran Paton has been chairman of the board since PointsBet was listed in June 2019 and was asked if he intended to continue for his full term.

While Japanese-backed MIXI has taken a substantial shareholding of 66.43 per cent, and three places on the board, Paton said he intended to stay his three-year term, having received 77.6 per cent support from shareholders.

The three MIXI board members, Sho Okuyama, Kanji Kobayashi and Taishi Oba all had their board positions confirmed by members by a similar measure to Paton.

PointsBet’s second largest shareholder, betr, was MIXI’s rival in its takeover attempt, but while unable to secure a majority position, still retains 27.7 per cent.

While there had been suggestions relations between betr and PointsBet management were frosty, Paton said his board would be seeking to open discussions with its bookmaking rival and second biggest shareholder.

“They are a substantial shareholder and no doubt in the fullness of time there will be ongoing discussions with them as a shareholder,” he said.

“We’d hope those discussions would be as if they were any other ordinary shareholder in terms of information sharing, confidential information, et cetera. Our intention would be to have open dialogue with them just like any other shareholder.”

Meanwhile, the Northern Territory-registered betm, Mixi’s previous presence in the Australian market, shut its doors this week, with a message on its website that it had permanently closed.