Licensing Expert

David Clifton: Licensing Expert – Time to start a constructive gambling marketing & advertising debate?

SBC News David Clifton: Licensing Expert – Time to start a constructive gambling marketing & advertising debate?

The UK Gambling Commission’s Programme Director for Consumer Protection & Empowerment, Ian Angus, has recently made a speech in which he called for “a proper and constructive debate about gambling marketing and advertising, including sponsorship arrangements in sport”. His speech included the following stark message to holders of operating licences granted by the Commission: “My advice to you is this: a storm is gathering, …

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BHA confirms alterations to conditions of selling races

SBC News BHA confirms alterations to conditions of selling races

The British Horseracing Authority (BHA) has confirmed that it has ratified proposals from the Racecourse Association (RCA) via the sport’s “Racing Group” to adjust the conditions of selling races from 1 October 2018. The objective of the proposals is to make the conditions of selling races much clearer to owners and trainers considering running horses, or bidding for the winners …

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David Clifton: Licensing Expert – Who are you & how old are you?

SBC News David Clifton: Licensing Expert – Who are you & how old are you?

We all knew it was coming. Back in March, the Gambling Commission published its “Review of Online Gambling”, expressing the clear opinion that “progress by the online industry to minimise harm has been significantly slower than we expected and required”. I wrote about it in my “No surprises from UKGC’s review of online gambling” article for SBC  that month. So …

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David Clifton: Licensing Expert – More of the same with yet more to come…

SBC News David Clifton: Licensing Expert – More of the same with yet more to come...

You’ve already read the headlines arising from the Gambling Commission’s 1 August response to its January 2018 consultation “Proposed changes to licence conditions and codes of practice linked to the fair and open licensing objective“. With effect from 31 October 2018 – just a matter of weeks away – changes to the Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (“LCCP”) will mean that gambling …

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David Clifton: Licensing Expert – Pointing to the next stage in the fight against gambling-related harm

SBC News David Clifton: Licensing Expert – Pointing to the next stage in the fight against gambling-related harm

  Last month I wrote about the latest effort by the UK Government to “drive action” across online gambling, gambling advertising, research, education and treatment of problem gambling and, more widely, the public health agenda with regard to gambling. Perhaps the industry’s most immediate major reaction to this has been the announcement by William Hill of a new corporate objective …

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David Clifton: Licensing Expert – Collaboration – The Name of the Game

SBC News David Clifton: Licensing Expert – Collaboration – The Name of the Game

Virtually all national newspaper reports on last month’s UK Government review of gaming machines and social responsibility measures focused on the headline-grabbing decision to reduce the maximum stake on B2 gaming machines (FOBTs) from £100 to £2. Industry media was not slow to pick up an accompanying announcement on the DCMS website that said: “In order to cover any negative impact on the public …

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David Clifton: Licensing Expert – Time for remote operators to focus on GamStop

SBC News David Clifton: Licensing Expert – Time for remote operators to focus on GamStop

GamStop – it’s been a long time coming, but it’s here now (at least in a “test” phase), and somewhere in the coming “weeks and months”, to quote Tim Miller, Executive Director of the Gambling Commission, the one month notification period under LCCP social responsibility code provision 3.5.5 will be triggered by the Commission. At the expiry of that one …

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David Clifton: Licensing Expert – Dealing with LCCP changes & Key Event reportings

SBC News David Clifton: Licensing Expert – Dealing with LCCP changes & Key Event reportings

4 April 2018 has seen changes to the Gambling Commission’s Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (“LCCP”) come into effect for UK licensed gambling operators. The up to date version of the LCCP is available on the Commission’s website, as too is an LCCP summary of the six key changes that have been made. Three of those changes relate to lotteries, …

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David Clifton: Licensing Expert – No surprises from UKGC’s review of online gambling

SBC News David Clifton: Licensing Expert – No surprises from UKGC’s review of online gambling

It can surely have come as no surprise that, after all that has happened in recent months, the Gambling Commission has announced proposals designed to provide greater protections for children, reduce problem gambling risks to vulnerable customers and act on its long-held perception that operators have not been doing enough to properly know their customers and to intervene at an …

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David Clifton: Licensing Expert – First thoughts on UKGC’s FOBTs & social responsibility recommendations

SBC News David Clifton: Licensing Expert – First thoughts on UKGC's FOBTs & social responsibility recommendations

It’s been a long wait, and an even longer debate, but in an announcement that will undoubtedly have a very strong influence on Government gambling policy, the UK Gambling Commission has advised that whilst a stake reduction for FOBT (category B2) machines is appropriate to reduce the risk of gambling-related harm, that alone is unlikely to have more than a …

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