UK’s gambling watchdog lifts suspension for Irish betting exchange company

MATCHBOOK, a betting exchange operated and developed by the Cork-based technology company Xanadu Consultancy, has had the suspension of its UK operating licence lifted by the country’s betting watchdog, the Gambling Commission.

The decision to lift the suspension means that Matchbook can now offer its betting services to UK customers.

In February, Matchbook had to halt its business activity in the UK as part of a package of sanctions for social responsibility and money laundering failings following a two-year review by the industry regulator. During that time, its services in Ireland remained open.

In April Matchbook’s Guernsey-based owner, Triplebet, was ordered to pay a £740,000 fine by the Gambling Commission, with its licence remaining suspended until it could prove it had carried out the required remedial measures.

With the return of Matchbook’s UK licence, the company has been found to have carried out the measures required to comply with the UK rules.

A statement from Matchbook said that it had implemented “significant improvements” to its compliance practices and is “confident that these are amongst the very best in the industry”.

“This announcement marks the culmination of many months of hard work and investment across our entire business,” a spokesman for Matchbook said.

“We are extremely proud of the dedication and commitment of our staff during a very challenging economic period that has enabled Matchbook to once again offer a much-improved exchange platform to UK residents as we continue to grow our market share and deliver an industry-leading platform and liquidity pool for our customers.”

In response to questions from The Sunday Independent, the spokesman said the recent trading period had been difficult, not just for Matchbook but all operators, with sports across the world down due to the pandemic.

“We took a big hit, but thankfully we have owners who only saw the opportunity on the other side and continued to invest and keep improving,” he said. “We always believed it was a matter of time before we [got] back into the UK, but the international market remains one of those key opportunities, particularly those with newly found licensing regimes.”

Mark Brosnan stepped down as Matchbook’s chief executive in June after 16 years with the company. Shortly after, chief financial officer Farzad Peyman took over on an interim basis.