Top Conservative official takes leave of absence amid new election betting allegations in fresh blow for Sunak
A top Conservative Party official has taken a leave of absence over allegations they placed bets on the timing of next month’s general election.
The Tory party has been rocked by more allegations as another top official is being investigated by the Gambling Commission for allegedly betting on the date of the election before it had been announced.
The revelations were first reported by The Sunday Times which claimed dozens of bets had been placed with potential winnings worth thousands of pounds.
The allegations represent a fresh blow for Prime Minister Rishi Sunak as three other Conservative figures have already been caught up in the scandal.
Tony Lee, the party’s director of campaigns, and his wife Laura Saunders are also under investigation.
Along with them, Craig Williams, Mr Sunak’s parliamentary private secretary, admitted to placing a “flutter” on the date of the election and is also being investigated.
Craig Williams admitted to betting on the election date. Pic: PA
Laura Saunders. Pic: Laura Saunders for Bristol North West
Senior Tory Michael Gove condemned the latest reports and likened the controversy to Partygate.
The levelling up secretary was reported as saying: “It looks like one rule for them and one rule for us.
“That’s the most potentially damaging thing.”
Labour branded the fresh allegations “utterly extraordinary”.
A party spokesperson said: “Rishi Sunak promised integrity, professionalism and accountability, instead his weakness means he has overseen the same sleaze and scandal that have come to epitomise the last 14 years of Tory government.
“Rishi Sunak must take immediate action and suspend all those implicated in the Tory betting scandal.”
The Liberal Democrats called on Mr Sunak to personally intervene after the allegations.
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Lib Dem deputy leader Daisy Cooper said: “This is now an all-out scandal at the heart of Rishi Sunak’s Conservative Party.
“Sunak must personally intervene to order a Cabinet Office inquiry and suspend all those under investigation by the Gambling Commission.
“People are sick and tired of this sleaze. Day by day, hour by hour, the Conservative government mire themselves in more of it.”
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A Conservative spokesman said: “As instructed by the Gambling Commission, we are not permitted to discuss any matters related to any investigation with the subject or any other persons.”
The US Securities and Exchange Commission has officially dropped its investigation into the New York-based tokenization platform Ondo Finance, which it initiated in 2023.
Ondo Finance has received formal notice that a confidential, multi-year SEC investigation into the platform has been closed without any charges, the company announced on Monday.
“The probe examined whether Ondo’s tokenization of certain real-world assets complied with federal securities laws as well as whether the ONDO token was a security,” the statement said.
The SEC’s decision to end the investigation reflects a broader shift in the US policy regarding real-world asset (RWA) tokenization, bringing it on the authority’s formal agenda, Ondo noted.
A new chapter of tokenization in the US
According to a report by Crypto in America, the SEC initially opened the probe in October 2023 under former SEC Chair Gary Gensler, who was known for his stringent stance toward the crypto industry.
However, since Paul Atkins took over as SEC chair, the agency has closed a number of crypto-related cases involving major companies, including Coinbase, Ripple and Kraken.
“When the inquiry began in 2024, the US regulatory environment for digital assets was defined by caution, confusion, and occasionally overbroad enforcement actions,” Ondo Finance said in its blog post.
Against that backdrop, Ondo was “one of the only firms focused on tokenizing publicly listed equities at scale,” it said, adding: “Being early, and being successful, came with scrutiny.”
According to Ondo, the resolution of the SEC inquiry marks the end of one chapter for Ondo and the beginning of another, where tokenized securities become a “core part of the US capital markets.”
“The future of global finance, including U.S. capital markets, will be onchain and Ondo will help lead that transition,” Ondo said.
Most US tokenization platforms serve overseas markets
The news comes as most tokenization platforms offer tokenized equity products primarily to customers outside the US, including firms such as Kraken-owned Backed, the issuer of xStocks.
While these platforms tokenize major US-listed stocks and exchange-traded funds (ETFs), many of the offerings are aimed at clients located overseas, particularly in Europe.
“The reality is that users in the US already have relatively seamless access to traditional equities such as stocks and ETFs through well-established brokerage platforms,” Alchemy Pay chief marketing officer Ailona Tsik told Cointelegraph in June.
Following the SEC probe’s resolution, it remains to be seen whether RWA platforms like Ondo will begin offering services to US-based clients.
Related: WisdomTree brings options income strategy onchain with new tokenized fund
The news came shortly after Ondo Global Markets received regulatory approval to offer tokenized stocks to European investors in November.
Securitize, a rival US tokenization platform, also obtained regulatory approval to operate as both an Investment Firm and a Trading & Settlement System (TSS) in the EU on Nov. 26. According to the company, the approval positioned it as one of the first operators for regulated digital securities infrastructure in both the US and EU.
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Argentina is considering allowing local financial institutions to engage more directly with cryptocurrencies in a move that would mark a significant shift from its restrictive stance, according to local media report.
According to a Friday report by local news outlet La Nacion, Banco Central de la República Argentina (BCRA), Argentina’s central bank, is considering allowing traditional banks to trade cryptocurrencies. The story cited “sources close to the organization.” Cointelegraph has not independently verified those claims.
The BCRA stepped in to ban financial institutions from offering crypto trading just days after two of the country’s largest banks signaled they were opening up to digital assets in May 2022. The BCRA said that such initiatives posed risks to users and “to the financial system as a whole.”
New cryptocurrency rules are reportedly being drafted, though La Nación’s sources did not specify when they might be finalized or implemented. Representatives of a locally operated exchange suggested that the measure could be approved as early as April 2026.
Rumors about such a potential shift have circulated for some time among crypto exchanges, bankers and people close to regulators, the report said. A representative of local crypto exchange Lemon told the outlet that the company believes “that a more open financial ecosystem will be a key driver for the mass adoption of digital assets in Argentina.”
Related: An overview of the cryptocurrency regulations in Argentina
Argentina reviews its stance on crypto
The regulatory change suggested in the report aligns with a direction recently taken by Argentina’s government. In mid-March, Argentina’s securities regulator finalized rules for virtual asset service providers, setting clear guidelines for the industry. Crypto service providers have been required to register with local regulators since April 2024.
This followed publicly traded US crypto exchange Coinbase receiving a green light from Argentina’s regulators to expand services in the country in January. In October 2024, Binance also announced that its mobile and web applications were “fully available” to users in Argentina after it was registered as an official crypto service provider. Similarly, crypto exchange Bybit was approved for operations in Argentina in mid-August 2024.
Related: Argentine state-owned energy giant weighs crypto payments for fuel: Report
Argentina sees booming crypto adoption
The country’s crypto industry has also been growing at a steady pace, overtaking Brazil as the top Latin American country in terms of estimated crypto inflows by users in early October 2024. Separate data from July 2024 suggested Argentina was leading the Western Hemisphere in crypto adoption, with analysts often pointing to the peso’s extreme weakness and inflation that had reached around 276% as key drivers.
Until recently, regulators were largely hostile to that trend. In May 2023, the central bank banned payment providers from offering crypto transactions, reinforcing earlier limits on how formal financial institutions could interact with digital assets.
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Volodymyr Zelenskyy is heading to Downing Street once again, but Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer will be keen to make this meeting more than just a photo op.
On Monday the prime minister will welcome not only the Ukrainian president, but also E3 allies France and Germany to discuss the state of the war in Ukraine.
French President Emmanuel Macron and German Chancellor Friedrich Merz will join Sir Keir in showing solidarity and support for Ukraine and its leader, but it’s the update on the peace negotiations that will be the main focus of the meet up.
The four leaders are said to be set to not only discuss those talks between Ukraine, the US and Russia, but also to talk about next steps if a deal were to be reached and what that might look like.
Ahead of the discussions, Sir Keir spoke with the Dutch leader Dick Schoof where both leaders agreed Ukraine’s defence still needs international support, and that Ukraine’s security is vital to European security.
But while Russia’s war machine shows no signs of abating, a warm welcome and kind words won’t be enough to satisfy the embattled Ukrainian president at a time when Russian drone and missile attacks continue to bombard Kyiv.
Keir Starmer welcoming Volodymyr Zelenskyy to Downing Street during a previous visit. Pic: AP
What is the latest in negotiations?
Over the weekend, Mr Zelenskyy said he had discussed “next steps” with US President Donald Trump’s advisers and was “determined to keep working in good faith”.
“The American representatives know the basic Ukrainian positions,” Mr Zelenskyy said in his nightly video address. “The conversation was constructive, although not easy.”
But on Sunday evening, ahead of an event at the Kennedy Center, President Trump said he was “disappointed” with Mr Zelenskyy, as was asked about the next steps in Russia-Ukraine talks following negotiations.
He said: “We’ve been speaking to President Putin and we’ve been speaking to Ukrainian leaders, including Zelenskyy, President Zelenskyy.
“And I have to say that I’m a little bit disappointed that President Zelenskyy hasn’t yet read the proposal. That was as of a few hours ago.
“His people love it. But he hasn’t – Russia’s fine with it. Russia’s you know, Russia, I guess, would rather have the whole country when you think of it. But Russia is, I believe, fine with it, but I’m not sure that Zelenskyy’s fine with it. His people love it but he hasn’t read it.”
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On Saturday, Keith Kellogg, Trump’s outgoing Ukraine envoy, had told the Reagan National Defence Forum that efforts to resolve the conflict were in “the last 10 metres”.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov praised new US security strategy over the weekend, adding that Russia hopes this would lead to “further constructive cooperation with Washington on the Ukrainian settlement”.
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