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Government consultation on regulation of overseas on-line gambling operators

The Government (DCMS) have announced that they are considering changes to the regulation for those operating on-line Gambling overseas, but targeting British customers.

At present, only operators based in the UK are required to be licensed by the Gambling Commission and have an Operating Licence.

For various reasons (tax and current lack of regulation) many operators have taken their on-line services (on-line Poker, on-line Sports Betting etc.) overseas to less regulated jurisdictions.

Previously the Government had produced what was known as the “white list” of countries who operated with a base in their own jurisdiction, but could advertise within Great Britain.

The Government is now looking again at this area, with a view to further restrictions. This gives a good indication as to the general current Government view of Gambling, with greater restriction and regulation being put in place.

Effectively, the current consultation is based around requiring foreign operators targeting British based customers to have an appropriate licence, (remote Operating Licence), issued by the Gambling Commission and therefore regulated by the Gambling Commission.  It would therefore follow that foreign web based operators will be far more regulated and be required to comply with the Gambling Act 2003 and the licensing objectives.

The aim the Government say would not only be to ensure a greater level of protection for British customers, but also increase the requirements for off shore operators to report suspicious betting activity and put in place necessary safeguards for problem gamblers and to prevent underage gambling.  

Quite how the enforcement of this change in the Law will be undertaken is another matter.

At present, there is no timescale for the consultation, but watch this space.

For more information, please contact Tim Shield.