Vixio, a leading provider of regulatory intelligence solutions, today announced that Christian Erlandson has been appointed as Chair of the board. Effective immediately, Erlandson succeeds Gehan Talwatte, who served as Chair for the past two years. He brings a wealth of experience in executive leadership, strategy and innovation, making him a valuable addition to the company as it continues to pursue growth and long-term success.

“I am honoured to join Vixio as Chair and excited to contribute to the company’s continued success and growth,” said Christian Erlandson. “Vixio’s commitment to the RegTech space, combined with its innovative AI-driven platform that enhances data insights and streamlines workflows, positions the company as a leader in regulatory intelligence. I look forward to helping steer Vixio through this exciting period of innovation and expansion, delivering impactful solutions for our customers, future customers, and employees alike.”

Christian Erlandson brings over 30 years of senior leadership experience in the data and analytics sector, with a proven track record of driving growth and innovation. He has played key roles in high-growth companies and held prominent leadership positions, including CEO of Dun & Bradstreet UK, Managing Director at Thomson Reuters, Chief Commercial Officer at GfK, and CEO of Automotive Transformation Group. Throughout his career, Christian has led successful digital transformations, spearheaded product development initiatives, built high-performing teams, and leveraged data-driven insights to deliver exceptional results for clients.

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Erlandson continues to serve as an advisor to Spotlio and currently holds the position of CEO at TNW (a Financial Times Company), reporting to the Financial Times Board. As a seasoned entrepreneur and CEO, Christian has a proven track record of driving transformational change in both scale-ups and well-established blue-chip organisations.

“We are delighted to welcome Christian to Vixio, and extend a heartfelt thanks to Gehan for his invaluable contributions to support Vixio’s expansion over the past two years,” says Mike Woolfrey, CEO Vixio. “Christian’s extensive leadership experience, strategic vision, and commitment to fostering innovation will be instrumental as we continue to strengthen our position as a leader in the RegTech market.”

Vixio was acquired in December 2022 by Perwyn, a European private equity investor, to enhance and increase the product offering and geographic coverage whilst maintaining and enhancing its leading reputation as the go to provider for regulatory intelligence in both the payments and gambling market. In his new role as Chair at Vixio, Erlandson’s industry experience and leadership will support Vixio’s continued growth in the payments and space with new products being brought to market to deepen its existing portfolio, as well as its expansion into the wider financial services industry and into new territories.

“Christian’s exceptional track record of driving growth and delivering value to stakeholders makes him the perfect leader to guide Vixio into its next phase of success,” says Gurinder Sunner, Partner at Perwyn. “We are confident his leadership will strategically position the company for continued growth in payments and gambling, as well as long-term success as we expand further into financial services. I look forward to the exciting opportunities that lie ahead under his chairship.”

Christian’s appointment comes at the perfect time as the business cements its position as an award-winning leader in the RegTech space.

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Australia’s ban on gambling advertising will not be introduced this week. This may also be the last week the Australian Parliament sits this term, making the bill’s progression uncertain.

The government has been further discussing gambling regulation since an inquiry last June. The late Member of Parliament Peta Murphy’s report included 31 recommendations, including a full ban of gambling advertising.

Gambling is a particular issue in the country. According to research, Australians lose around $25 billion on legal gambling every year, the largest per capita losses globally.

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Earlier this year, ReadWrite reported that “one million gambling ads had been aired in one year in Australia,” according to an open letter signed by prominent Australians. Despite these external and internal pressures, the parliament is still yet to respond to Murphy’s report or make the proposed bill public.

Competition Minister Andrew Leigh said that the government was prepared to bring in restrictions “immediately” but that they still don’t have enough numbers to pass the bill.

“It’s quite clear at the moment … the numbers aren’t there to progress the reforms the government has put through, which would significantly curtail gambling ads around major sporting events so there would be a blackout period before and after sporting events,” he said.

“If we thought the numbers were there, we’d put it to the parliament immediately, but the fact that the numbers aren’t there says everything about the way in which the opposition is moving into blocking mode.”

This directly contradicted the view from sport minister Anika Wells, who said that a ban on gambling ads was not ready for parliament yet.

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She said: “I’ve got national sporting organizations and professional codes who are worried about how this will impact the viability of their financial model … I think it needs more nuanced work.”

The Labor government continues to be split on the issue of a full advertising ban, with some believing a partial one is the better decision.