Europe - Player Protection Hub

CMS Committee poses series of questions in letter to Gambling Commission over FRAs decision

A.J. KoehnJuly 14, 2026056 views

The Culture, Media and Sport (CMS) Committee has written to the Gambling Commission regarding the latter’s decision to go ahead with Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs).

It is the latest in a series of unwinding events which have followed the Commission’s FRA revelations on Tuesday morning.

The Commission and Department of Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) have both faced criticism from horse racing representatives and from Conservative MPs for not taking the issue to parliament.

CMS Committee Chair, Dame Caroline Dinenage MP, set out five key questions in a letter addressed to Sarah Gardner, Acting Chief Executive Officer of the Gambling Commission.

CMS Committee’s questions to the Gambling Commission:

1. Will the Commission publish the full dataset, evidence base and methodology that informed its decision to proceed with Financial Risk Assessments and to determine the proposed thresholds?

2. The Commission has stated that Financial Risk Assessments should reduce the need for doc..

Liverpool City Council puts weight behind calls to end gambling advertising

A.J. KoehnJuly 14, 2026064 views

Liverpool City Council has joined the Coalition to End Gambling Ads (CEGA), becoming the latest local authority to back calls for tighter restrictions on gambling advertising as part of its wider strategy to reduce gambling-related harm.

The move follows the launch of the council’s Reducing Gambling Harms Action Plan earlier this year, which sets out measures to improve early intervention, increase access to support services and reduce residents’ exposure to gambling marketing.

According to the council, around one in six young adults in Liverpool experience gambling-related harm, with men and people facing financial disadvantage considered most at risk.

It said gambling-related problems can contribute to debt, poor mental health, relationship breakdown, homelessness and contact with the criminal justice system.

The council said joining CEGA would strengthen its efforts to address what it described as the normalisation of gambling through widespread advertising across television, s..

FRA reaction: Gambling Commission slammed by figures in and out of the industry

A.J. KoehnJuly 10, 2026093 views

Industry stakeholders from all angles have come out this week to condemn the Gambling Commission’s announcement that it is ready to impose Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs) on gambling operators in the UK.

Journalists were told by the Commission in a meeting on Tuesday morning that it was ready to take a “carefully thought-out staged application” of FRAs.

The first phase of the FRA programme will apply to the “largest operators” focused on the assessment of high spend customers with a check set of £5,000 net deposits accumulated over a 24-hour period.

But many across the UK, from punters to operators and law firms to horse racing enthusiasts, have slammed the Commission’s decision to go ahead with this.

A judicial review of FRA implementation?

Sophie Kemp, Partner and Head of Public Law at London-based law firm Kingsley Napley, told SBC News that she believes that “there may be strong grounds for bringing a judicial review challenge” about the approach.

“Many in the industry vie..

Greece opens tender for cybersecurity partner for gambling market

A.J. KoehnJuly 9, 2026067 views

The Hellenic Gambling Supervision and Control Commission (EEEP) has launched a tender which will aim to appoint a ”specialist legal and technical partner” to strengthen player monitoring on Greece’s online gambling market.

The directive forms part of the government’s broader strategy to enhance oversight of the online gambling sector by improving player identification, anti-money laundering (AML) safeguards and cybersecurity commands.

The tender seeks to find a partner that will help redesign and strengthen the framework that oversees the secure identification of players using Electronic Player Accounts (EPAs).

A new technical framework is required to enhance Know Your Customer (KYC) procedures to ensure licensed operators maintain robust protections against fraud, financial crime and underage gambling.

According to the tender documents, the EEEP is seeking assistance with “the design and improvement of the framework for the secure identification of gambling players”, combined wi..

Why the Gambling Commission is failing to alleviate FRA black market anxiety

iGamingExpertJuly 9, 2026062 views

The Gambling Commission’s calls for calm over the impact of Financial Risk Assessments (FRAs) on the growth of the black market seem to be falling on deaf ears, as sources have emphasised to iGaming Expert that industry trepidation is only escalating.

Despite the best efforts of the GC, warnings continue to ring loudly over a lack of clarity when it comes to the implementation of FRAs.

An industry source told iGaming Expert that the move represents a ‘huge windfall’ for the illegal market, as concerns over an exodus to the black market refuse to go away for players who ‘believe they should be able to spend their money the way they want to’.

They added that the government is simply ‘doubling down’ on the stresses placed on the regulated sector by supporting FRAs after previously implementing a significant tax hike on the online gambling sector in November.

Anger from within the industry has been encapsulated by the Betting and Gaming Council’s Chief Executive Officer, Grainne Hurst,..

Gambling Commission looks to calm operator fears with measured approach to FRA implementation

iGamingExpertJuly 9, 2026053 views

A day that much of the industry had been awaiting with trepidation is set to arrive today, as the Gambling Commission confirms plans for the implementation of Financial Risk Assessments.

The first stage of implementation will see FRAs implemented by the largest operators, where there is high spend of multiple thousands of pounds over a 24-hour period. For most, this means £5,000 net deposits in a rolling 24-hour period, with it being predicted that only 0.5% of customers will hit these thresholds.

Once fully implemented in due course, Financial Risk Assessments will be applied to customers aged 25 years or older with net deposits exceeding £1,000 in a rolling 24-hour period or £3,000 over a rolling 90-day period; for those under 25, these thresholds will be reduced to £750 in a rolling 24 hours or £2,000 in a rolling 90-day period.

Furthermore, the GC has also underpinned that although the White Paper was put forward during a previous government, it has the full backing of the late..

Landmark EGBA player safety initiative comes to fruition

A.J. KoehnJuly 9, 2026054 views

It’s been a long time coming for the introduction of an EU-wide international player protection standard, and thanks to collaborative efforts spearheaded by the European Betting and Gaming Association (EGBA), the publication of a full set of guidelines is now set in stone.

Earlier in the week, the final version of the European Standard on markers of harm in gambling (EN 18144) was released by the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN).

Although voluntary, the document is being treated by EGBA and its members as a necessary baseline for gambling operators across Europe to build their player protection frameworks around.

The guidelines identify a total of nine core markers revolving around player behaviour that gambling providers can use to inform their safer play policies and intervene when a risk pattern is detected.

According to the document, tracking should prioritise shifts in stake volume and frequency, speed/intensity of play, deposit frequency and size, withdrawals, pl..

ECA calls for cross-border police action as EU black market approaches €100bn

A.J. KoehnJuly 9, 2026060 views

The European Casino Association (ECA) has become the latest organisation to call for stronger cross-border enforcement against illegal online gambling after revealing that the black market targeting EU consumers reached an estimated €91.6bn (£78.3bn) in 2025.

The figure is up around 14% year-on-year and was presented for the first time during a high-level roundtable in the European Parliament.

It replaces the previous 2024 estimate of €80bn that had originally been used in the meeting’s title and means illegal operators deprived EU member states of an estimated €22.9bn in tax revenue during 2025.

Hosted by Member of European Parliament Lukas Mandl, the roundtable brought together representatives from many industry stakeholders including:

The European Commission

The Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA)

Eurojust

The Joint Parliamentary Scrutiny Group on Europol (JSPG)

National gambling regulators

ECA: over 6,000 black market operators active

The ECA report estimates that mor..

KSA Chairman: Dutch gambling needs better financial guardianship

A.J. KoehnJuly 9, 2026063 views

Michel Groothuizen, Chairman of Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), believes that reforms to Dutch gambling laws must provide a better financial guardianship of the consumer and vulnerable players.

Throughout 2026, the Kamer will continue to review proposals that seek to reorganise the Dutch online gambling market, which is currently regulated under the framework of the 2021 Remote Gambling Act (KOA).

Groothuizen is aware of the challenge of balancing gambling laws and protections with consumer rights.

His latest intervention underlines a central question for Dutch lawmakers: how far should the state go in protecting players from financial harm without removing individual choice?

The question has become more urgent as Claudia van Bruggen, State Secretary for Legal Protection, presses ahead with a major package of gambling reforms. The legislative overhaul, first enacted in 2026, seeks to introduce what the government has described as stronger guaranteed protections for consumers, particular..

Swedish court backs regulator over Betsson AML ruling

iGamingExpertJuly 9, 2026050 views

A Swedish Administrative Court has backed the gaming regulator’s findings that Betsson committed ‘serious violations of money laundering regulations’.

Spelinspektionen first brought action against Betsson Nordic Ltd, alongside Spooniker Ltd – a then-subsidiary of FDJ United’s Kindred Group – and Snabbare Ltd – a subsidiary of ComeOn Group, for failing to take sufficient customer due diligence measures in May 2025.

The regulator warned all three and handed them fines of SEK 6.5m, SEK 10m and SEK 5.5m, respectively, for actions that took place in 2023.

In each instance, Spelinspektionen investigated the operator’s processes for a select group of customers and found that they had failed to adequately identify the source of income for large deposits that couldn’t be justified by the consumer’s taxable income.

The operators attributed the funds to previous winnings; however, Spelinspektionen said that this could not be accurately verified, as the funds had been removed from the consumer..