SBC News

BHA to Monitor Pilot Proceedings as Government is Reminded of Levy Review Pledge

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) will closely monitor the forthcoming developments of the UK Gambling Commission’s (UKGC) pilot scheme and timeline to implement affordability checks.

The governing body of British racing has issued its response to yesterday’s announcement by the Gambling Commission that it would roll out its pilot scheme on “frictionless customer affordability checks” from August 2024, initiating a six-month test phase to move to a live environment.

BHA CEO Julie Harrington commented, “We are reassured that the Government has listened to Racing’s long campaign against the affordability checks first outlined in its White Paper more than a year ago.”

Representing the interests of UK racing and its rural value-chain, the BHA and its members have voiced strong concerns against financial affordability checks being imposed on customers.

Alongside the Jockey Club and Racing Post, the B..

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has established a new ‘voluntary code on customer checks’ to minimise frictions of financial checks and improve consistencies in know-your-customer (KYC) duties.

The voluntary code was designed in collaboration with the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) to help raise standards and reduce the need for private financial document requests when verifying customers.

As cited by the BGC, the code was designed “in response to the ongoing debate around affordability, the BGC, Government, and GC are taking action now to find practical solutions for online betting and gaming, giving greater clarity to customers and horseracing, while enhancing standards.”

Launched as a voluntary measure for BGC members, the code specifies actions required when customers’ accounts exceed net deposits of £5,000 in a rolling month or £25,000 within a 12-month period.

Members applying the code “must undertake a risk assessment of that customer to: i) understand their financial si..

Spain’s Ministry of Consumer Affairs will prioritise restoring gambling advertising restrictions as intended by the Royal Decree on Advertising.

The plan was outlined by Pablo Bustinduy, Spain’s new Minister of Social Rights and Consumer Affairs, addressing media on the current framework of federal rules on gambling advertising.

Confusion has arisen in the Spanish media, as this April the Supreme Court annulled specific articles of the Royal Decree on Advertising.

In an address to the Spanish media and the Directorate General of Gambling Regulation (DGOJ), Bustinduy intends to reintroduce and enhance restrictions on gambling advertising through legislative means, following annulments determined by the Supreme Court.

Since 2020, the Decree had limited gambling advertising on all Spanish media platforms from the early morning hours of 1 to 5 am. Further restrictions followed in 2022, as the Decree imposed a blanket ban on all forms of gambling sponsorships in professional sports, exc..

IBAS, the Independent Betting Adjudication Service, has clarified its position on matters related to settling disputed bets between bookmakers and customers.

Recognised as the UK’s most referred-to Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) service, IBAS issued its response related to this weekend’s BBC article referencing its ADR service used by customers to challenge the outcome of disputed bets.

The BBC highlighted concerns by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) that wrong results were being determined by bookmakers due to inaccurate data being recorded from feeds provided by third-party partners, monitoring match events.

Of significance, disputes on bet-builder outcomes were highlighted as customers ‘felt robbed’ by inaccurate data used to determine match statistics.

The article referenced IBAS’s Richard Hayler, who detailed that “nearly 300 people tried to appeal their football data bets”, and that data disputes “made up around 15% of their workload.”

On arbitrating disputes, the BBC..

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) will probe how football betting markets are settled, following concerns over wrong results being determined by bookmakers.

The Commission confirmed to the BBC that it would “meet figures in the football betting industry over claims that wrong results are being recorded”.

The probe follows consumer disputes concerning the use of inaccurate data used to settle football wagers referencing “statistics like the number of tackles or shots in a match.”

Customers have “felt robbed” due to incidents of inaccurate data being recorded by bookmakers using third-party feeds to monitor match play and to settle final outcomes.

Andrew Rhodes, CEO of the Gambling Commission, will meet with key betting data stakeholders to ensure the settlement of football markets is both accurate and fair.

The BBC’s report cited two customer disputes related to bet-builder wagers. These disputes involved misreported shots by Mo Salah and tackles made by Sunderland FC, errors attri..

The passage of Ireland’s Gambling Regulation Bill (GRB) has become further muddied, as conflicts emerge on the framework’s rules and determinations related to fundraising activities connected with gambling.

Concerns were raised to Minister of State, James Browne, who oversees the GRB’s agenda, to exclude charity draws and schemes from being included in the Bill’s framework.

An amendment, carrying a specific exemption for charity purposes, was proposed by Labour Deputy Aodhán Ó Ríordáin but was rejected by Browne, who stated that the GRB must remain as it stands.

Browne cited that “excluding charities could remove important safeguards against the misuse of charitable status for gambling.”

Furthermore, the minister scolded deputies for attempting to modify the Bill at its review stage before proceeding to the Seanad (senate) to be determined as a law.

Deputies were reminded that amendments can only be considered during the ‘committee phase’ and therefore cannot be reintroduced durin..

Industry reformists at the House of Lords have stated that the Gambling Review’s White Paper falls significantly short on advertising policies and reforms to protect the public from harm.

This afternoon, the House of Lords hosted a short debate on the “Impact of gambling advertising, marketing and sponsorship on problem gambling”, put forward by Lord Foster of Bath (Liberal Democrats).

As the Chair of the Peers for Gambling Reform, Lord Foster is pleased that the majority of the group’s recommendations ‘in whole or part’ were included in the Gambling Review’s White Paper. However, “except for the Gambling Commission taking a closer look at bonus offers such as free bets and spins, and the Premiership’s voluntary ban on front-of-shirt sponsorships, the White Paper proposes very little on gambling advertising reforms.”

The scarcity of advertising policies saw Foster state that the White Paper had failed to achieve one of its primary objectives: rectifying the conditions of the 2005 Ga..