Betfred and Bet365 leaders among top three highest UK taxpayers

The owners of Betfred and Bet365 both made the top three in The Times’ annual survey showing who paid the most tax in the last year.

Fred and Peter Done and family, owners of Betfred, were second on the list having contributed £273.4 million (€324.7 million/$341.2 million) to public funds. This pushed them up from fourth place in 2023, when they paid £204.6 million. Top of the Times’ Tax List 2025 was the founder of Children’s Investment Fund Management, Chris Hohn, who paid £339.5 million.

Bet365 owners Denise (pictured), John and Peter Coates remained in third place, contributing £265 million to the exchequer.

Unnamed French operator sanctioned over player withdrawal breach

France’s gambling regulator, L’Autorité Nationale des Jeux (ANJ), has taken action against an unnamed operator that failed to comply with rules on player asset withdrawals.

The ANJ college referred the case to its sanctions committee in April 2024. The ANJ accused the operator of not immediately validating player withdrawal requests. The obligation to immediately return assets to players has been imposed on operators since 2010.

The sanctions committee imposed a financial penalty of €5,000 on the operator, but decided not to attach publicity measures to the sanction.

Canadian report links online gambling payments to fentanyl trafficking

A new report has identified online gambling transactions as a leading method for disguising proceeds from illegal fentanyl trafficking and production in Canada.

FINTRAC, Canada’s national financial intelligence agency, highlighted online gambling as a major contributor to drug trafficking in a new report. The agency said fentanyl traffickers frequently sent funds received from multiple incoming email money transfers to gambling sites and received payments in return from associated payment processors based in Malta, Canada and the UK.

The ‘Operational Alert, Laundering the Proceeds of Illicit Synthetic Opioids’ report will be used to assist businesses in identifying and reporting financial transactions related to the laundering of proceeds from the importation, production and distribution of fentanyl and other illegal synthetic opioids.

NFL launches responsible gambling programme for student-athletes

The National Football League (NFL) has announced plans for a responsible gambling training programme specifically designed for university and college student-athletes.

The NFL has launched the programme in association with the Responsible Gambling Council (RGC). The partners have identified student athletes as an important audience for targeted responsible gambling and problem gambling prevention initiatives, as previous research has shown their susceptibility to risky gambling behaviour.

The programme will launch with a pilot phase at eight universities and colleges in the upcoming 2025 spring semester.

Lotto-Berlin operator hands seven-year deal to Scientific Games

Deutsche Klassenlotterie Berlin (DKLB) is to become the first German lottery provider to implement Scientific Games’ Symphony omnichannel gaming system under a new seven-year contract.

While Scientific Games has served as a technology provider to the Lotto-Berlin operator for more than 20 years, it will now make the switch to the new system. Symphony’s architecture supports retail, digital and mobile play and future game entertainment channels, including third-party content and platforms.

Hansjörg Höltkemeier, chief executive of Lotto-Berlin, said: “With our selection of Scientific Games and Symphony, we are not only responding to the ever-increasing requirements in the areas of operational safety and cyber security but also focusing on continuity.”