A23’s holding company filed a challenge to India’s Promotion and Regulation of Online Gaming Bill in the High Court of Karnataka, arguing that it criminalises online games of skill. The company asked the court to declare the law unconstitutional as it applies to those games. The source described this as the first legal challenge to the law.
The court challenge could affect the legal status of online skill-game operators in India.
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Rank Group and Entain shares each rose about 5% in morning trading on 21 October after reports suggested the UK Treasury was considering a smaller Machine Games Duty increase than previously feared. The reported rate was 25%; the change had not been confirmed, and the Budget was due on 28 October.
The UK government could limit an increase in the ordinary Machine Games Duty rate to 25% from the current 20%, rather than the 40% previously floated, according to the Times. The measure could be included in the Budget Chancellor John Healey presents on 28 October, with no official confirmation yet. The Betting and Gaming Council had estimated a 40% rate could close about 2,900 betting shops and put more than 21,000 jobs at risk.
The UK government could limit an increase in the ordinary Machine Games Duty (MGD) rate to 25% from the current 20%, according to the Times. The five percentage point rise would be smaller than the doubling to 40% floated in recent months. The measure could be included in the Budget that Chancellor of the Exchequer John Healey presents on 28 October. No official confirmation has been given.
A New York special master ordered KKR and Shamrock Capital to submit select privileged communications for confidential in camera review in a lawsuit brought by FanDuel co-founder Nigel Eccles and more than 100 co-plaintiffs. Special Master Alan Scheinkman's 33-page order limits the review to FanDuel's pre-sale valuation, the firms' drag-along rights and the founders' expected payout. The order stops short of ruling that the defendants breached fiduciary duties under Scots law.
A special master ordered FanDuel's defendants to submit previously withheld legal communications for confidential review in a lawsuit brought by co-founder Nigel Eccles and more than 100 other plaintiffs. The plaintiffs allege KKR and Shamrock Capital undervalued FanDuel's ordinary shares.
It was reported that Special Master Alan Scheinkman, presiding over the case in the New York Supreme Court, directed the defendants to hand over legal communications they had held back so that these can be examined confidentially. Nigel Eccles, who co-founded FanDuel, is pursuing the shareholder action together with over 100 other plaintiffs. The defendants still contest the shareholders' claims, and the order leaves the substance of those claims untouched.
Reportedly, Betting & Gaming Council members have asked UK Chancellor John Healey to reject a proposed increase in Machine Games Duty on category B machines from 20% to 40%. The Treasury is considering the MGD change for the autumn budget, while the letter also seeks a further delay to the General Betting Duty rise from 15% to 25%, scheduled for April 2027.