Tabcorp has made a bold move in its fight against regulatory pressure, bringing in Paul Jevtovic, the former head of Australia’s financial crime regulator, as its new chief financial crime officer. This is a calculated appointment that signals serious intent to fix the compliance issues that have dogged the betting operator and sent its share price into freefall.

From Regulator to Regulated

There’s a certain irony to this hire. Jevtovic ran AUSTRAC between 2014 and 2017, a period when Tabcorp copped a then-record $45 million penalty for breaching anti-money laundering and counter-terrorism financing laws. At the time, he was publicly critical of the company’s sluggish approach to compliance. Now he’s been handed the keys to fix the very problems he once scrutinised from the regulatory side.

But it’s not a random choice. Jevtovic brings genuine expertise in financial crime, with stints in law enforcement, intelligence, and senior banking roles at NAB. He’s already been doing some consulting work for Tabcorp recently, so he’s not walking in cold.

The Scale of the Challenge

The AUSTRAC investigation has been brutal for Tabcorp. The company’s share price dropped more than 40% when the probe became public, wiping nearly $1 billion from its market value. Investors were spooked by the prospect of hefty penalties and serious reputational damage. That kind of market reaction tells you how seriously the City views compliance failures in this space.

Jevtovic’s role extends well beyond damage control on the investigation. He’ll oversee the entire financial crime prevention framework, including fraud detection, internal investigations, and scam prevention. On top of that, he’s heading a new internal oversight committee tasked with improving governance across the business.

A Broader Reinforcement

Tabcorp isn’t relying on Jevtovic alone. Chief executive Gillon McLachlan has also confirmed Joel Williams as permanent Chief Risk Officer after Williams served in that role temporarily. The company has recruited seasoned director Vivian Stewart to bolster board experience as well. It’s a clear attempt to show both regulators and investors that serious structural changes are underway.

McLachlan called Jevtovic’s appointment “a significant step in improving the company’s internal controls,” and frankly, it’s hard to disagree. The real question now is whether these moves will be enough to satisfy AUSTRAC and restore investor confidence. That investigation will likely be the defining challenge for McLachlan since he took the top job in 2024. The outcome could reshape how regulators view Tabcorp for years to come.

What the team thinks

Philippa Ashworth says:

Baz has captured the strategic calculus here, but what’s equally telling is what this appointment reveals about Tabcorp’s broader organisational vulnerability: bringing in regulatory muscle at CFO level suggests the company recognises that compliance failures aren’t just operational hiccups but existential threats to shareholder value and market confidence. The real question isn’t whether Jevtovic can navigate the current crisis, but whether his presence signals that Tabcorp’s internal compliance culture was fundamentally broken, or whether this is simply the industry-standard move operators make when facing regulatory scrutiny. Either way, this hire will be closely watched by other betting operators facing similar pressures, as it could set a precedent for how seriously boards need to treat governance infrastructure to restore investor faith.