Lawyer Malcolm Sheehan, QC, will lead a top-level review of the collapse of the Football Index (FI) trading platform, the Department of Digital, Culture, Media and Sports (DCMS) confirmed.
Sheehan, with a background in commercial and common law, focuses on product liability and group action, as well as public and regulatory law.
DCMS confirmed that the review will cover four main areas and is aimed at examining the regulatory circumstances surrounding the granting of the license to BetIndex Limited, its subsequent suspension and the final financial collapse of the company.
The review will also look at the role of the UKGC in licensing BetIndex, including its assessment of the company's financial position as part of its suitability for a license.
Sheehan will also review UKGC's monitoring practices, including how it has responded to concerns raised about FI's internal compliance processes and interference from third parties, including the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA).
In September 2019, the ASA denounced Football Index's video ads, expressing concern that the product was misrepresented as an investment opportunity rather than a betting product, which it felt was irresponsible advertising.
This criticism has since been echoed by other observers, including the All Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling-Related Harm (APPG), which called FI a "pyramid scheme".
The decision to start a review of BetIndex in May 2020 and the subsequent decision to suspend the company's license in March after it went into administration mode will also be considered as part of the review.
On a broader level, the BetIndex review will examine the role of the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) to assess whether a product complies with a regulated activity under the Financial Services and Markets Act.
In addition, the relationship between the regulators involved in the case will be studied and evaluated to see if it can be improved.
Finally, the review will consider what, if at all possible, the UKGC and other relevant regulators could have done to prevent the FI product from being offered in its current form, and whether the eventual collapse of the firm could have been avoided.
DCMS has confirmed that the results of the review will be published in the summer and recommendations will be included in the government's 2005 Gambling Law Review.
The call for evidence to review the Gambling Act 2005 ended on March 31, but the government said that information could continue to be provided to DCMS, in particular in the Football Index case, where it falls within the scope of the review.
It is understood that the government is planning to release a white paper following the call for evidence to revise the 2005 Gambling Law before the end of the year.
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