News: TAH UPDATE 2-Australia financial crimes regulator opens investigation into Britain's Entain

(Adds details on gambling market in Australia, background)

Sept 12 (Reuters) - The Australian financial crimes regulator said it opened an investigation into British sports betting giant Entain Plc ENT.L to assess whether it was complying with anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws.

The Australian Transaction Reports and Analysis Centre (AUSTRAC) said it began the enforcement investigation after an extensive supervisory campaign covering the whole corporate bookmaking sector, without giving further details.

"Reporting entities have a responsibility to ensure they identify, assess and manage risks of money laundering and terrorism financing, develop adequate processes and devote the necessary resources to comply with their AML/CTF obligations," AUSTRAC Chief Executive Officer Nicole Rose said in a statement on Monday.

Online betting has exploded in Australia since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic when physical gambling shopfronts were forced to shut in stop-start lockdowns over nearly two years.

London-listed Entain, which has about one-sixth of Australia's online betting market via the Ladbrokes brand, and larger rival Flutter Entertainment Plc FLTRF.I , Australia's largest online betting house which has Sportsbet, reported large revenue increases in calendar 2020 and 2021.

Last month, the British gambling regulator fined Entain 17 million pounds ($19 million), its biggest fine, for what it called "completely unacceptable anti-money laundering and safer gambling failures".

Entain, which in 2021 made an approach to buy certain assets of Australia's No. 2 online betting operator Tabcorp Holdings Ltd (TAH) , did not respond to two Reuters emails seeking comment. The Australian Financial Review quoted an Entain spokesperson as saying the company was cooperating with the investigation. (([email protected]; Twitter: https://twitter.com/sameer_manekar))