ACMA issues formal warning to Curaçao-based Alistair Solutions

The Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) has issued a formal warning to Curaçao-based Alistair Solutions for offering online gambling in the market.

The watchdog established that Alistair Solutions is the parent company behind Shazam Casino, which had been made available to Australians.

ACMA started its investigation on 9 February and established Alistair Solutions had contravened the country’s Interactive Gambling Act 2001.

The regulator found that Shazam Casino offered “casino-style games of mixed chance and skill” and also had an Australian customer-link.

In a letter to Alistair Solutions, an ACMA delegate said: “I [redacted], delegate of the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) being satisfied that Alistair Solutions N.V. has contravened subsection 15 (2A) of the IGA hereby issue Alistair Solutions N.V. a formal warning.

“The ACMA found that, as the provider of the Shazam Casino service, Alistair Solutions N.V. has contravened subsection 15 (2A) of the IGA by providing prohibited interactive gambling services to customers physically present in Australia.”

According to the Curaçao Commercial Register, Alistair Solutions was established in November 2020 and its managing director is Ukrainian Ihor Kharchenko.

Shazam Casino allows users to gamble with cryptocurrency but expressly states on its website it is not available to users from outside of the “jurisdiction [other] than the Central Government of Curaçao”.