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Online Gambling Regulation

A few days before Parliament entered its summer recess DCMS Minister John Penrose announced expected measures regarding the regulation of overseas online gaming providers.

In a statement Penrose announced:

“British consumers face different consumer protection arrangements and have to deal with a myriad of different regulators and languages depending on where the gambling they are taking part in is regulated.  This problem is growing as more countries permit online gambling.  At the same time, it is unfair to GB-licensed gambling operators that overseas competitors benefit from access to the market in Great Britain without bearing a fair share of the costs of regulation, or of research, education and treatment of problem gambling.

I am proposing that the Gambling Act should be amended so that remote gambling is regulated on a point of consumption basis, so that all operators selling into the British market, whether from here or abroad, will be required to hold a Gambling Commission licence to enable them to transact with British consumers and to advertise in Great Britain.”

At the moment, prior to the implementation of these new measures, operators from overseas wishing to operate in the British market could do so as long as they were based in an approved jurisdiction.  This “White List” of jurisdictions will become redundant when the new requirements come into being for all companies operating in the UK market.

Those operators currently based in EEA member states or in jurisdictions on the “White List” will be entitled to a transitional permission to avoid any brake in their operations.

It is hoped that these requirements will create the mythical “level playing field” all Ministers hope to lead their portfolios to and provide consistency for users.  It will also have the happy side effect of increasing income from Licence fees to fill recent budget reductions experienced across all government departments.

No date has been fixed for the implementation of this new regime; we shall keep you updated.