As I write this, the last week has seen a huge amount of information emanating from the Gambling Commission. We have seen it publish a short online survey, seemingly aimed at the general public, urging them to have their say on how gambling companies interact with their customers, with a particular focus on affordability. It runs until 9 February, the …
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12 months ago, 2019 ended with a promise within the Queen’s Speech from the then newly elected Conservative Party government to “carry out a Review of the Gambling Act”. Now, 2020 is ending with that promise being fulfilled. On 8 December 2020, the Gambling Act Review was launched, with a Call for Evidence that runs until midnight on 31 March …
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After the DCMS released its policy document, which aims to bring clarity to UK gambling about what the 2005 Gambling Act review will entail, industry experts began examining the terms of reference to assess how these areas may affect their respective operations. Speaking on the ‘Unpicking the Terms of the UK Gambling Act Review‘ webinar, hosted by SBC, Brigid Simmonds, …
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The SBC Webinars series continues on Friday 11 December with Unpicking the Terms of The UK Gambling Act Review, an in-depth examination of the potential impact of the review on the betting and gaming industry. This week the UK Government finally announced the start of the long-awaited review into the Gambling Act 2005, a piece of legislation once touted as …
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In the Gambling Commission’s March 2018 Online Gambling Review, published very shortly after Neil McArthur took over as its Chief Executive, the view was expressed that “overall, progress by the online industry to minimise harm has been significantly slower than we expected and required”. That set in motion a chain of events that has reached its zenith in the last …
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The issue of ethical gambling is not a new notion – the betting industry has been grappling with a number of varying rules and regulations for some time. However, a new approach to the measures that are currently in place might see a shift in attitudes towards the betting industry’s role in problem gambling and the causation of the dilemma. …
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Let’s start with some context… It is more than six years now since the Gambling Commission flagged up concerns about the insulation of high-value “VIP customers” from the social responsibility obligations and practices applying elsewhere in gambling operators’ businesses. This was accompanied by a series of regulatory failings where operators had appeared reluctant to interact with commercially valuable customers on …
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Not that long ago, gambling advertising was far from the highly controversial subject it has become in more recent times. Re-reading findings from 2014 research into “public perceptions of gambling advertising in the UK”, commissioned by the Advertising Standards Authority, makes me realise just how much both public sentiment and the regulatory mood have changed since then. Six years ago, …
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In last month’s “Licensing Expert” article for SBC News, I talked about a possible link between erosion of parliamentarians’ trust in the Gambling Commission and erosion of the Commission’s trust in the gambling sector. Since then, more recent events have served to underline even more the extent to which trust in both the regulator and the regulated has so regrettably …
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UK gambling regulatory developments during the last month or so have led many to query the reason behind the Gambling Commission’s decision to publish (on 12th May) additional customer interaction guidance for remote operators. What some have found puzzling is not only the range of topics covered in that additional guidance but also its prescriptive nature, particularly bearing in mind …
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