Entain included Antarctica and Vatican City on exit list in compliance drive

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Antarctica and Vatican City are among the list of more than 140 unregulated gambling territories that Entain said it had exited in a frequently cited statistic to show how the Ladbrokes owner had cleaned up its business, according to an internal document.

The London-listed bookmaker was not generating any revenues in these two territories in the run-up to closure, according to internal estimates, but they were nevertheless included in a list of areas from which Entain committed to withdraw as there was no path to domestic gambling regulation.

The worldwide exits were held up as part of efforts by Entain to overhaul its compliance, especially in light of a criminal bribery probe by British authorities that concluded last month with Entain agreeing to pay a £615mn penalty.

The deferred prosecution agreement Entain signed with UK prosecutors over historic wrongdoing at its Turkish subsidiary obliged the bookmaker to withdraw from unregulated markets. Entain pointed to how it had “exited approximately 140 markets where there was no clear path to regulation” in line with the DPA’s conditions.

Entain’s chair Barry Gibson also emphasised its success in withdrawing from more than 140 unregulated markets at its most recent trading update in November, saying it was “the right thing for the business”.

An internal tracking document maintained by Entain’s compliance team, seen by the Financial Times, shows that along with Antarctica and Vatican City, other territories with a permanent human population of less than 1,000 people helped make up the total of 140-plus unregulated gambling markets that the bookmaker exited.

These included the Pitcairn Islands, the French Southern and Antarctic Lands, and the United States Minor Outlying Islands.

Greg Johnson, an analyst at Shore Capital, said: “I struggle to see why it’s a great achievement…