Gambling Commission reveals details of year-long Football Index investigation

The Gambling Commission (UKGC) first commenced a formal review of Football Index’s operating licence back in May 2020.Responding to criticism from Football Index punters after the business collapsed and entered administration, the regulator defended its record in scrutinising the now defunct trading platform.“The focus of our review was to address issues in relation to the betting aspect of the product,” the UKGC said in a statement.“At that stage, there were no grounds to suspend their operating licence.“During the course of the review, we utilised betting specialist expertise, a forensic financial accountant and specialist external QC to examine the business model, the finances of the company and the complex legal questions over the appropriate regulatory framework,” the UKGC added.The regulator revealed parent company BetIndex planned to self-suspend its UKGC licence in the days prior to closure, with a view to potentially restructuring and relaunching the platform under a different model.However, the UKGC said concerns about the potential timing of this relaunch and the status of customer funds required the regulator to act and suspend the licence immediately.Explaining this stance, the UKGC said: “We know from experience that the suspension of a licence can, of itself, trigger or hasten the financial decline of an operator and put customer funds at risk.“That is why we will always consider whether there are steps short of suspension that can still deliver the right regulatory outcomes and address the risks that consumers face without accelerating the financial collapse of a business.“We will therefore only turn to suspension when that is the only option for delivering the right regulatory outcome and, indeed, the legislation requires us to exercise those powers in that way.“We were satisfied that on 11 March suspension was the only regulatory option left available to us,” the UKGC added.Football Index has since collapsed into administration, leaving many of its former investors facing significant financial losses amid accusations of mismanagement being levelled at the firm’s owners.Writing to Culture Secretary Oliver Dowden, the Gambling Related Harm All Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) criticised the UKGC for its conduct during the “scandal”.Addressing punters directly, the UKGC confirmed the suspension of payments from FI’s Trust Account as outstanding customer dividend entitlements are calculated by the firm’s administrators.It is understood the payment of outstanding monies will focus on customers first, prior to Football Index’s remaining creditors.