By Cianan Brennan,Irishexaminer.com
Copyright irishexaminer
The action follows a series of dawn raids in mid-May at the premises of multiple gambling companies amid an investigation by the Competition and Consumer Protection Commission – Ireland’s consumer regulator – into alleged breaches of competition law by those firms.
The probe relates specifically to alleged price fixing and anti-competitive agreements within the gambling industry itself. Irish competition law forbids anti-competitive agreements between vested interests – such as agreements to fix prices and liabilities within the gambling industry by two or more businesses.
It’s understood that the CCPC action against Ladbrokes relates to issues concerning claimed legal privilege over documents and information that were seized in the May raids. It’s the second such action taken against Ladbrokes since June.
A spokesperson for the CCPC said that the case “relates to statutory processes initiated by the CCPC under section 33 of the Competition and Consumer Protection Act 2014”.
“This is a procedural matter related to a criminal investigation under our competition law powers. No further comment can be made at this point,” they said.
Section 33 of the 2014 Act relates to acquisition of privileged material by the CCPC provided that the confidentiality of that information is maintained until the High Court can determine whether it is officially privileged – that is, unusable in court – or not.
Ladbrokes Ireland did not respond to a request for comment at the time of publication.
Previous Ladbrokes probe
The May raids – the second such investigation undertaken by the CCPC after a previous probe in 2023 – were conducted by authorised CCPC officers in conjunction with detectives from the Garda National Economic Crime Bureau.
The commission’s probe in 2023 saw it take a legal action against the Irish Bookmakers Association – the representative body for licenced gambling operators across Ireland – over alleged anti-competitive activity.
Companies found to have breached Ireland’s competition laws can face fines amongst other penalties.
Other CCPC investigations
The gambling industry investigation is just one of a number of high-profile actions currently in train by the CCPC.
Last July, the consumer watchdog wrote to organisations in the motor industry to take action against alleged anti-competitive practices, such as telling customers their warranty will be void if they go to independent garages for repairs.
In correspondence with the industry, the regulator said consumers must not be prevented from freely choosing who services or repairs their vehicles, or what parts they use, adding that it stood ready to take legal enforcement action should any such illicit behaviours be detected.
Ladbrokes, one of the most recognisable names in the British gambling industry, has existed since 1886. The company’s Irish arm had previously entered examinership in both 2011 and 2015 after posting a series of punishing losses.
Since 2018, Ladbrokes’ overall business has been owned by Entain, an international sports betting conglomerate based on the Isle of Man.
