WBX
Encyclopedia
World Bet Exchange is a person-to-person betting exchange
Betting exchange
A betting exchange is an entity which provides "trading" facilities for retail or bookmaker customers to buy and sell contracts. Contracts are structured as binary options. Some betting exchanges may also offer CFD products...

 based in Notting Hill Gate
Notting Hill Gate
Notting Hill Gate is one of the main thoroughfares of Notting Hill, in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea. Historically the street was a location for toll gates, from which it derives its modern name.- Location :...

, London in the United Kingdom, and licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission
Gambling Commission
The Gambling Commission is Great Britain's regulatory body for most, but not all, gambling.-History:It was established under the Gambling Act 2005 and assumed full powers in 2007, taking over responsibility from the Gaming Board for Great Britain, in regulating arcades, betting, bingo, casinos,...

. WBX.com was founded in 2002 by Malcolm Gray but did not officially launch until November, 25th, 2006. In an interview prior to launch, Gray was quoted as saying: "In an industry where the current market leader has a virtual monopoly, we believe the arrival of WBX will put every exchange player back in control. We will continually seek to offer a vibrant, exciting and innovative alternative to Betfair, and we hope this will promote healthy rivalry."

Company Structure

World Bet Exchange Limited and WBX Members Funds Limited are wholly owned subsidiaries of WBX Holdings Plc. All three companies are registered in England and Wales. WBX Members Funds Limited, which does not otherwise trade, is a company that was established in order to safeguard members’ funds in a separate bank account. The funds are held subject to a trust deed
Trust deed
Deed of trust may refer to:* Trust deed * Trust instrument, a legal instrument in common law systems* Trust Deed , used in Scottish law* Deed of Trust , music album...

 and quarterly, external audits, which are published on the WBX website. This company structure renders improper use of members' funds illegal, which apparently was not the case in the Sporting Options
Sporting Options
Sporting Options was an English betting exchange, based in Sussex. The company was founded in 2000 by former City of London options traders Robert Byrne and Kevin Griffiths. Sporting Options went into administration on 15 November 2004 amid allegations of criminal wrongdoing...

 incident.

Racing Sponsorship

Prior to the launch of WBX.com, the company was already the fourth largest sponsor of horse races in Britain, having spent more than £250,000 on over 200 race sponsorships. Coinciding with the November 2006 launch, WBX founded the Triple Crown of Hurdling
Triple Crown of Hurdling
The Triple Crown of Hurdling is awarded to any horse that wins all three of the Grade 1 Hurdling races in any given English National Hunt season...

 to complement their sponsorship of the Newcastle Fighting Fifth Hurdle
Fighting Fifth Hurdle
The Fighting Fifth Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Newcastle over a distance of about 2 miles , and during its running there are nine hurdles to be jumped...

 at Kempton Park Racecourse
Kempton Park Racecourse
Kempton Park Racecourse is a horse racing track in Sunbury-on-Thames, Surrey, England, which is a western suburb of London 16 miles from the city centre. The site is set in of land....

. When asked about the Triple Crown, Malcolm Gray was quoted as saying: "The WBX Hurdling Triple Crown will bind together ... three races (Fighting Fifth Hurdle, Christmas Hurdle
Christmas Hurdle
The Christmas Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. It is run at Kempton Park over a distance of about 2 miles , and during its running there are eight hurdles to be jumped...

 and Champion Hurdle
Champion Hurdle
The Champion Hurdle is a Grade 1 National Hunt hurdle race in Great Britain which is open to horses aged four years or older. As part of a sponsorship agreement with the online sportsbook StanJames.com, the race is now known as the Stan James Champion Hurdle...

) to form a championship series which will finally offer horse racing fans a true measure of the greatest hurdlers in National Hunt racing."
If any horse wins all three legs in a given season, a £1 million bonus will be awarded and divided amongst connections of the horse, making the Triple Crown the richest ever prize over small obstacles.

Industry Status

Like other rivals to Betfair, WBX has attempted to secure new customers by charging less commission on winning bets. According to the findings of their own unpublished study, the company claims that its members would have paid 35% more commission had they done their betting at Betfair. WBX also moved to capitalize on Betfair's September 2008 decision to impose a Premium Charge on winning bettors. WBX claims that its members wagered over £500 million against one another in 2008, and in excess of £1 billion since its inception in 2006.
The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
x
OK