Evolution faces Gambling Commission review over black market activity

In a statement released this evening (20 December), live dealer specialist Evolution said it was “cooperating fully” with the Commission. It has “taken requested immediate actions to remedy the situation”, the supplier added.  

Evolution’s games were taken down from the illegal website. It actively work with the Commission to resolve the matter, it added.

However it now goes into the festive period with the threat of enforcement action. Depending on its outcome, the review could result in no penalty. Equally, Evolution could face a financial sanction or license suspension of revocation in the UK.  

The UK counts for roughly 3% of Evolution’s reported revenue, the supplier said.  

Evolution ‘committed to supporting licensed UK market’

Evolution embraces the objectives of the Gambling Commission review, said CEO Martin Carlesund. The company is “committed to supporting the licensed UK market, as well as preventing unlicensed traffic,” he added.  

“We are now taking forceful action using all technical tools available to us to ensure that our games are only available in the UK through Commission licensed operators.  

“We believe that a close collaboration to address our joint concerns will lead to swifter and better results. As always we remain committed to an open and transparent relationship with our regulators,” he concluded.  

Commission urges operators to monitor suppliers’ actions

In November Gambling Commission CEO Andrew Rhodes warned operators in the UK to carry out due diligence on their supplier partners. This, he said, was to ensure they aren’t supporting black market activity.

“The Commission’s strategy on combatting illegal gambling is to cause as much up-stream disruption as we can, which is why we have focused on ISPs (internet service providers), payment providers, search engines, software suppliers and more,” Rhodes told the GC’s annual gambling industry CEOs meeting.

However, stakeholders pushed back against the warning, telling iGB it would be incredibly difficult for operators to monitor their B2B partners’ actions. Trade body representatives from both Germany and Sweden agreed it is up to the regulator to ensure stakeholders are fully compliant in their licensed market.

Evolution’s activity in Asia

The new of the GC’s review follows a damning report in Josimar which claimed Evolution was providing its services to a number of Asia-based operators which provide unlicensed services across Europe. A few of which have sponsorship agreements with a handful of UK Premier League teams.

In Q3 Evolution reported Asia accounted for around 40% of its business. It also said in its Q3 earnings that regulated revenues made up 39% of the entire group during the period. This was down slightly from 40% in Q3 and Q4 2023.

At the time a Regulus Partners note warned: “Evolution’s period of easy Asian growth with few questions asked and no local response now seems to be over.”

“Being on the wrong side of ‘unregulated’ markets in Asia can be a painful experience,” the advisor said. The comment was made in response to Evolution being impacted by targeted cyber-attacks in Asia during the period.