It’s a little too neat: A report commissioned by Evolution itself has corroborated key allegations about the live casino supplier’s exposure to prohibited gambling markets, handing Playtech potentially significant support in the long-running legal battle over the Black Cube investigation.

• The confidential report by Spectrum Gaming was made public in a New Jersey state court on Tuesday after Evolution sought to keep it under wraps.

Too tidy: According to the Financial Times, Spectrum found that Evolution generated revenue from operators making its games available in markets where online gambling was prohibited, including Hong Kong, Singapore, the United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia.

• Spectrum said it was able to “specifically corroborate” Black Cube’s findings that Evolution games were played in those jurisdictions, the paper reported.
• Spectrum also identified “significant” deficiencies in the supplier’s compliance arrangements.

And altogether too symmetrical: The report does not validate the entirety of Black Cube’s case. Spectrum did not find evidence supporting allegations that Evolution had operated in US-sanctioned jurisdictions such as Syria and Iran.

• But the document appears to substantiate the investigation’s central contention that Evolution’s products were reaching prohibited markets while the supplier exercised insufficient control over the customer-facing operators distributing them.

That’s what’s wrong with it: Spectrum was retained by Evolution in 2021 to investigate the claims made in Black Cube’s dossier. Its provenance therefore gives the findings particular significance: this was not another report commissioned by an opponent, but Evolution’s own response to the allegations.

• Spectrum found Evolution “does not take any proactive steps” to ensure customer-facing gambling operators using its products “are complying with the terms of the contracts.”
• It also found that Evolution had accepted wagers in “virtual currency” in circumstances that should “trigger enhanced due diligence.”
• The supplier had received revenue from operators offering its games in grey markets including Hong Kong and Singapore.

We’ve disposed of the gallows: Perhaps most damagingly, Spectrum concluded Evolution had not “taken any remedial action since the allegations of wrongdoing surfaced” to block the sites or jurisdictions concerned, or to enforce its contracts with the relevant customers.

• The report described the compliance issues as “problematic” and said they placed Evolution “in a precarious situation with law enforcement officials.”

But there’s still that banana peel somewhere: Playtech seized on the disclosure, arguing it explained why Evolution had attempted to keep the report confidential despite presenting Spectrum’s work publicly as vindication of its practices.

• “Now that the Spectrum report is publicly available, it is clear both why (it) has become so important in the US litigation – and why Evolution fought so hard to keep it confidential,” Playtech said in a stock exchange statement.

• Evolution had argued that disclosure could reveal proprietary information and undermine its competitive position. It declined to comment to the FT following publication.

Under somebody’s foot: There remain important limits to the report’s findings. Spectrum did not substantiate the accusations involving Iran and Syria. Playtech said the consultancy was unable “to confirm or refute” some other allegations because Evolution had not supplied all the information requested.

• According to Playtech, the missing material included data needed to establish whether gaming sessions occurred in Iran, Syria and Sudan, as well as revenue reports covering those jurisdictions.
• A lack of information is not proof that Evolution operated in sanctioned countries. Nor does Spectrum’s corroboration of activity elsewhere establish the accuracy of every claim, recording or conclusion produced by Black Cube.

Waiting like a hangman on the scaffold: It does, however, make it difficult to characterize the Spectrum exercise as an unqualified exoneration. The document independently confirms weaknesses involving prohibited markets, customer monitoring and contractual enforcement, even as it leaves the most serious sanctions allegations unsupported or unresolved.

Like a drowning man clutching at a razor blade: The disclosure of the Spectrum report follows on from the news of Evolution’s £4.75m settlement of a UK Gambling Commission licence review in July.

• That case primarily concerned Evolution content being offered to British consumers by two unlicensed operators across six websites.
• Evolution said the operators had breached its supply terms and “actively evaded” its restrictions. It terminated both relationships and introduced enhanced ring-fencing and other controls.

• Evolution stressed that the 18-month review found no wider pattern of unlicensed access in the UK.
• CEO Martin Carlesund said it was “not acceptable” that the sites had offered Evolution games and that the company did not want traffic from unlicensed operators.

That will be all, Frau Helm: Evolution brought its defamation claim against law firm Calcagni & Kanefsky in 2021 after the Black Cube-derived allegations were submitted anonymously to the New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement.

• The company alleges the claims were false and precipitated a fall in its share price.
• Black Cube was added as a defendant last year.
• Evolution subsequently said it would seek to add Playtech after the London-listed supplier was revealed as the client that paid Black Cube more than £1.8m, but that request was denied.

• Playtech lost a third of its market value in a single day when its involvement became public last October.
• Evolution accused its competitor of going to “extraordinary lengths” to damage its business and reputation.
• Playtech denied orchestrating a smear campaign, saying it had acted on credible and repeated compliance concerns.

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