Should We Be Worried Is Our Saviors Next???

[scooby3051]

Austrac launches full-scale probe into Tabcorp

 

Austrac has launched an investigation into Tabcorp

 

By Adam Dobbin
12:10pm • 07 May 2026

Government agency AUSTRAC has launched a probe into Tabcorp over the wagering giant's "ability to deal with money laundering and terrorism financing risks".

A statement to the ASX on Thursday revealed Tabcorp had been notified by the anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism finance regulator that "a compliance assessment would be undertaken" with the "investigation to focus on compliance protocols and the monitoring of its customers".

"Tabcorp has been notified by AUSTRAC that it has a number of serious concerns with Tabcorp's ability to identify, mitigate and manage its money laundering and terrorism financing risks," the statement read.

"As a consequence, AUSTRAC has commenced an enforcement investigation.

"AUSTRAC has advised that its investigation is at an early stage and its approach will be determined once sufficient evidence has been collected and assessed.

"All outcomes remain open, including the possibility that no further enforcement action will be taken."

News of the potential AUSTRAC breaches follows Tabcorp's decision to ban a range of customers in recent weeks from using its online and retail products.

The move led to significant blowback, with a group of punters, including professional punter Steve Fletcher, seeking clarity as to why they had been prohibited.

There is no suggestion that the recent banning of a number of punters is in relation to the ongoing AUSTRAC investigation.

It's understood the AUSTRAC bombshell has led to an emergency Tabcorp board meeting being convened with CEO Gill McLachlan scrapping plans to be trackside for the final day of the Warrnambool Carnival.

TAB boss Gillon McLachlan

McLachlan, who is nearing two-years at the helm of Tabcorp, said he was "committed to leading a compliant and safe company that understands its risk obligations".

"Uplifting our risk capability has been an ongoing part of the Company's transformation and we will work constructively with AUSTRAC through the process," McLachlan said.

It was a position supported by Tabcorp Chairman Brett Chenoweth.

"Tabcorp takes its anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing obligations very seriously," Chenoweth said.

"The Board and Executive are fully committed to collaborating with AUSTRAC in the continuing uplift in Tabcorp's risk maturity."

The recent revelations isn't the first time Tabcorp has been in the crosshairs of AUSTRAC.

In 2017, the leading online and retail provider was ordered to pay a then record $45 million for 108 breaches to anti-money laundering laws.

The breaches included failures to report suspicious activity, verify customer identities and maintain a compliant AML program.

[meomy]

Would like to see the Banks and a few others including FINTECHS placed under the same close scrutiny for AML failures.

Many areas need a shake up and shake out with lack of application of Legalese - blame goes to Software 

 

[Leggy]

Pretty much the same thing that Entain have faced over there. Outcomes will be interesting.

[scooby3051]

Lot on the line for racing in Austrac's probe into Tabcorp

 

TAB boss Gil McLachlan Picture: Rohan Kelly

 

By Adam Dobbin
03:48pm • 11 May 2026 

Revelations last week that AUSTRAC is probing Tabcorp's exclusive retail network sent a thunderbolt throughout the racing and wagering industries.

The missive had an immediate knock-on effect, with the wagering giant's share-price plummeting in a whirlwind 72 hours in which almost $800 million was wiped from its value.

The market panic was of little surprise, large financial penalties and/or seismic changes to the trading environment in which it operates looming as potential outcomes from any longwinded, exhaustive investigation.

And while the exact nature of AUSTRAC's concerns haven't been disclosed, it's understood to centre largely around Tabcorp's longstanding cash and cash redeemable betting vouchers, either across the counter or via its in-venue electronic betting terminals (EBTs).

In the lead up to last week's bombshell announcement, Tabcorp had already moved to ban a number of customers, primarily from its retail offering, suggesting they were now "outside of the company's risk appetite".

What – if any – connection can be drawn is difficult to gauge, yet the timing is hard to ignore.

It was only in August last year that Tabcorp hierarchy was airing its satisfaction that cash betting, via its extensive and exclusive retail offering – in which it pays a significant licence fee to governments to operate – had increased almost 18 per cent.

For Tabcorp CEO Gillon McLachlan it was a significant achievement, having flagged restoring the company's appeal to punters' in tabs, pubs and clubs – with makeovers and new in-venue initiatives – as a key pillar to growth and clawing back market-share post-Covid.

Significant investment was poured into ensuring a resurgence in retail and by any measure it has been a success, with 42 per cent of Tabcorp's national turnover stemming from cash and in-venue digital wagering.

But with that uprise has come with it more attention from the regulator in a wagering space that has already undergone a major regulatory overhaul, most notably through the introduction of BetStop.

Tabcorp is set to be investigated by AUSTRAC.

Tabcorp is no stranger to being hit hard by AUSTRAC, being fined a then-record $45 million back in 2017 for breaches to anti-money laundering laws.

Where this most recent investigation ends up is anyone's guess.

While the short-term pain might be confined to TAB shareholders and jittery executives, the end ramifications have the ability to stretch far and wide into every facet of racing.

A determination by AUSTRAC that ultimately impairs or restricts Tabcorp's ability to deliver a premium, simplistic retail service would be a catastrophic blow to racing's overall bottom line.

The ramifications would be felt far and wide. 

For an industry that lives and dies on wagering revenue, an environment that proves more onerous on the day-to-day cash recreational punter would simply disengage the masses.

Any notion that lost turnover would be picked up wholly elsewhere is one that should be rejected.

How Tabcorp navigates the looming investigation will prove a pivotal moment in time – not just for the wagering giant, but for the wider racing industry.