Category: Financial Services

Regulatory Watch News

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  Two more admit General Election betting offences

  Gambling Commisiion

  September 10, 2026

  Today, 10 September, Anthony Lee pleaded guilty to two offences of cheating, contrary to section 42(1)(a) and section 42(1)(b) of the Gambling Act 2005.

  Laura Lee (formerly Saunders) pleaded guilty to one offence of cheating, contrary to section 42(1)(a) of the Gambling Act 2005. The 2024 General Election date of 4 July 2024 was announced to the public by then-Prime Minister Rishi Sunak on 22 May 2024. In advance of this announcement there was significant planning for a 4 July 2024 General Election. Planning happened at 10 Downing Street and amongst staff at Conservative Campaign Headquarters. Before the date of the General Election was announced, various gambling operators offered special markets in the lead up to the election announcement as to when the General Election would be held.

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  Man pleads guilty to fraud and forgery offences relating to fake takeover approach

  Financial Conduct Authority

  September 10, 2026

  Christopher Woolcott has pleaded guilty to 4 counts of fraud and forgery after creating a fake takeover bid for Touchstone Exploration Inc.

  Mr Woolcott held shares in Touchstone Exploration Inc and stood to benefit financially from any upward movement in the share price had the fake takeover bid been announced to the market. Mr Woolcott admitted creating a fictitious takeover approach for Touchstone Exploration Inc using multiple false identities and forged documents, in an attempt to lend credibility to the approach.

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  Thousands of horses caught up in Europe-wide trafficking scheme

  Europol

  September 10, 2026

  Europol has supported a major operation against a criminal network suspected of trafficking horses across Europe using falsified documents and manipulated microchips to conceal the animals’ true identities. Between 8 and 9 September 2026, nearly 200 officers and representatives of different authorities took part in the operation across Belgium, France, Ireland and the Netherlands. At the centre of this investigation led by Belgium is a suspected large-scale trade in horses whose identities and histories were allegedly manipulated to allow them to be moved and resold across Europe. Some of the animals may ultimately have been diverted into the food chain without their true origin and history being known.