Gambling Act 2005

And we're gonna give some props to the Irish government as well for what I think was, looking back over those couple years, was a very effective legislative process.

Um, uh, they, they, they got the job done very effectively, I think, much more effectively than our government over here, who, as you'll remember, Charlie, from when we were journalists covering this, uh, you know, was o- that, that Gambling Act review was overseen by about 13 different ministers and got delayed about four or five times at least, I think.

So yeah, uh, the Irish government, fair play.

Good job.

The frozen funds represent royalty payments received by the Premier League from French digital collectible firm Sorare SAS under an official fantasy football non-fungible token licensing agreement signed in November 2022.

The NCA sought the four-month extension, which would maintain the order to the statutory two-year maximum, to investigate whether the proceeds derived from unlicensed gambling following criminal charges brought against Serrari by the UK Gambling Commission under the Gambling Act 2005.

The judge rejected the Premier League's opposition under the Proceeds of Crime Acts, where they had claimed the funds were received in good faith without notice.

Instead, he ruled that reasonable grounds for suspicion persist given the ongoing regulatory prosecution, the Premier League's ring fencing of incoming fees, and its filing of a defense against money laundering suspicious activity report.

So things were changed to make them work at that time.

And I think there needs to be, yeah, there needs to be an openness to reworking things so that they work better, not just in the U.S., Like in the UK, we had the Gambling Act 2005 came in.

And when that came in, it was out of date.

Technology had already gone way past it.

And she succeeds Charles Council, who had been serving as the interim chair following the departure of Marcus Boyle back in February.

The U.K. Gambling Commission operates under the Gambling Act 2005, and the mandate for Evans is highly specific.

She is tasked with developing a new strategy, continuing the implementation of the Gambling Act review reforms, and expanding the commission's work against illegal gambling.

The background of the person appointed to execute that mandate tells you everything you need to know about the government's current stance on the industry.

Yeah.

That is a really astute observation.

When a government prioritizes a consumer protection specialist over an industry insider, they are stating unequivocally that harm reduction is the priority over industry facilitation.

Which directly aligns with the broader goals of the Gambling Act review reforms.