SBC News

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) stands by its long-term strategy to combat illegal online gambling, as a regulatory objective of the Gambling Review’s White Paper.

“The Commission’s approach is to identify and undertake high-impact interventions to disrupt unlicensed operators targeting consumers in Great Britain, all with a view to making it difficult to provide illegal gambling at scale,” stated CEO Andrew Rhodes at the Westminster Media Forum on 13 May 2024.

The strategy has involved the Commission engaging with the National Crime Agency (NCA), Police Intellectual Property Crime Unit (PIPCU), and His Majesty’s Revenue and Customs (HMRC) to increase intelligence-led disruptions that impede unlicensed operators from engaging with British consumers.

Cooperation with regulatory counterparts is highly effective, as the Commission has eliminated illegal Facebook lotteries, working in tandem with HMRC and imposing penalties of £600,000 on unlicensed organisers.

Combating illegal gamb..

UK gambling’s land-based venues and stakeholders have been warned to prepare for a summer of changes, adopting new rules to comply with the commitments of the Gambling Review’s White Paper.

Addressing delegates of the Bingo Association AGM – Andrew Rhodes, Chief Executive of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), stressed that the White Paper’s consultation phase will be followed by the Commission swiftly applying changes, impacting all gambling disciplines, whether land-based or online.

The Commission maintains progress on the consultation phase of the White Paper, fulfilling the remit of the UKGC’s new corporate strategy to secure ‘better data and better evidence’ supervising and governing UK gambling activities.

Of significance to land-based stakeholders, Rhodes noted that the White Paper’s third consultation phase will be focused on land-based elements and feedback.

“Later this year and likely this Summer, we will be publishing the next round of consultation responses and then movi..

What does it take to convince C-level that the numerous components that comprise ESG are intrinsically linked to revenue? For Leah Carnegie, Chief People Officer at Lottoland, the answer is a simple one – drop the acronym.

The moderator of ‘why ESG is your business bottom line’ at the Gibraltar Ethical Gambling Forum instead suggested that a basic shift in mindset, and language, could ultimately lead to gaining attention at a higher level internally.

“As soon as I use the word ESG in a boardroom, I get sleepy eyes,” she said. “But if I use the words accountability, responsibility and sustainability, I will get some action. I don’t know whether ESG has been forced.”

Rather than proceeding down the current path, Carnegie suggested that influence should be adopted from approaches taken across other jurisdictions, notably the US, where she noted that she has witnessed the industry “talking more generally” about the aforementioned trifecta of issues.

“I think until we change our mindset..

The Dutch government has been warned against implementing ‘playing limits’ as endorsed by Legal Protections’ Minister Franc Weerwind.

The warning came from the Dutch Advisory Board on Regulatory Burden (ATR), an independent watchdog scrutinising “regulatory burdens” on business, consumers, and stakeholders in healthcare, education and public welfare.

In February, Minister Weerwind launched a consultation on imposing playing limits as a mandatory requirement of the Remote Gambling Act (KOA).

Measures proposed by Weerwind, would see KOA-licensed operators adopt a mandatory monthly financial risk checks on customer accounts that spend over €350. The Minister further endorsed applying a compulsory loss-limit on player accounts under the age of 24, set at a threshold of €150 losses.

The playing limits will be further strengthened by operators ensuring that customers are contacted by trained staff on gambling addiction and the requirement for operators to provide customer ‘care warnings’..

One of the defining characteristics of the online gaming industry throughout the 2020s so far has been the increased focus on regulated markets. Around the world, governments from Latin America to Asia are establishing regulated frameworks for online gaming, while the world’s biggest operators are eager to tell the world about their operations in regulated and regulating markets.

As the importance of regulation and compliance is arguably bigger than ever, it is imperative for operators and suppliers to ensure that they are compliant with their licensed jurisdictions.

BetComply, a compliance and market entry consultancy, is leveraging its expertise to ensure that its clients are compliant with local regulations. The firm deems that regulatory compliance is not just a necessity; it’s the cornerstone of success.

Mike de Graaff, the firm’s Chief Compliance Officer, told SBC News how the compliance sector is keeping up with the fast-paced nature of regulations this decade.

“It’s crow..

“ESG is all that makes us feel good, isn’t it?” Andrew Lyman, Gambling Commissioner and Executive Director at Government of Gibraltar, began in a keynote address at this week’s Ethical Gambling Forum.

Picking up where Nigel Feetham, Minister for Justice, Trade and Industry, left off, Lyman took to the stage following a plea from event Co-Founder Adrian Sladdin to those organisations based in close proximity to the Sunborn held event.

“There are so many companies within a stone’s throw of this boat that I hope will actually take the message around ESG, responsible leadership from the top, and adopting the right policies to represent Gibraltar in the best light possible,” his segue noted.

Posing a starter for 10 to those in attendance, Lyman continued by asking delegates who could argue against the numerous advantages to be gained via the adoption of an array of ESG practices.

Those plus points touched upon, he elaborated, include taking measures to reduce climate change, for corpora..