Vouris: Compliance a key capability in fight against the black market

A lack of focus on compliance by the wagering industry will only lead to more gamblers graduating to illegal offshore bookmakers, according to the chief executive of Entain Australia and New Zealand, Andrew Vouris, who cautioned the industry about breaking the trust of the customer.

Speaking at the Regulating the Game Conference in Sydney, Vouris said the black market posed one of the most serious threats to harm minimisation, public trust and the long‑term sustainability of the wagering industry.

“If regulated operators don’t get this right, customers don’t stop gambling – they move to the black market,” Vouris said.

He described illegal offshore operators as having “no consumer protections, no anti‑money laundering controls, zero tax contribution and zero accountability”.

But he also said that regulated betting companies needed to ensure they prioritised compliance as a strategic capability rather than seeing it as a cost of operating in the regulated market.

Reflecting on his experience dealing with compliance challenges at some of Australia’s biggest wagering companies, including Tabcorp and now Entain, Vouris warned that short‑term commercial thinking erodes trust and drives activity underground.

Vouris took over as Entain ANZ boss in June last year, six months after AUSTRAC launched enforcement proceedings.

While not speaking specifically to the AUSTRAC situation, which is expected to go before the Federal Court later this year, he said the company had made some difficult decisions in recent years, including closing higher‑risk channels, exiting certain markets and partnerships, offboarding customers that no longer met its risk profile, and walking away from millions of dollars in revenue.

He said those decisions were necessary to protect the long‑term integrity of the company and the broader industry.

“These were not easy decisions,” he said. “But they were made in the long‑term interest of the business, our customers and the communities we operate in”.

Vouris said strong compliance cultures gave regulated operators the credibility needed to push for tougher action against illegal providers. He called for greater disruption and enforcement against the illegal market, which is estimated to be worth $3.9 billion a year in Australia alone.

He also called for collaboration between regulators, industry, banks and technology platforms.

The paths of the Australian and New Zealand aspects of the business, which Vouris oversees, are divergent, with Entain enjoying a sports and racing betting monopoly in NZ, while it is also expected to bid for three of the 15 licenses for online casinos, which will be distributed by the NZ government later this year.

Vouris, who said that would bring online gaming “back into the light,” conceded there was little hope of online casinos becoming part of the regulated landscape in Australia in the near future, which created opportunities for black-market operators to target that sector.

He also called on the wagering industry to reject a “win at all costs” mindset and recognise that compliance, trust and integrity were essential to preventing the black market from flourishing.

“Winning matters,” he said. “But winning the right way is the only way to win for the long term.”