09-09-2006 Sportingbet asks AIM to resume trading in its shares

Trading in Sportingbet's shares had been suspended on Thursday morning as soon as the betting group became aware that its Non-Executive Chairman, Peter Dicks, had been arrested in New York while he was travelling on non-Sportingbet business.

While BetonSports shares remain suspended two months after the arrest of former Chief Executive David Carruthers, the request to resume share trading suggests that Sportingbet has no intention of closing its US-facing operations, which generate around 70 per cent of the group's revenues.

Richard Carter, an analyst at Numis Securities, said in a note to clients that because the investigation is at state level, he did not think that Louisiana authorities will apply for a restraining order on Sportingbet's operations.

"The charges do not relate to racketeering, fraud or the Wire Act and therefore in our view it is unlikely that the district attorney's office will apply for a restraining order on Sportingbet's operations, so Sportingbet will trade as normal," he said.

Mark Reed, an analyst at Teather & Greenwood, said that, even though the investigation is not a federal one, Dicks' arrest shows that the BetonSports investigation was not a one-off and other online gambling company bosses could be targeted.

"I'm surprised this news isn't being taken more negatively. Louisiana makes no distinction between sports betting and other games, which means that they are as likely to issue an arrest warrant for a PartyGaming or 888.com executive as they are for a Sportingbet one," said another analyst.

"No one who operates within the industry can be sure whether a warrant is in existence for them," added Paddy Whur, partner at UK corporate law firm Walker Morris.

"You don't need legal expertise to know if you are running an offshore gambling site, don't come to America right now. You stand a good chance of being arrested," commented Nelson Rose, Professor of law at Whittier Law School.