Gambling Update - news and analysis

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Gambling operators reported to have agreed TV advertising restrictions

Last week, the BBC reported that the major gambling operators, acting through their trade association, the Remote Gambling Association (“RGA”), had agreed to limit the amount of gambling advertising on broadcasts of sports events.

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Online operators pay £14m and personal licence holders sanctioned for breaches

On 29 November, the UK Gambling Commission (the "Commission") announced that online casino companies and their senior management had been subject to widespread action as part of an ongoing investigation into the way the industry combats problem gambling and money laundering.

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Gambling Commission fines Daub Alderney £7.1m for anti-money laundering and social responsibility failures

On 10th October 2018, the Gambling Commission announced that it had agreed a financial payment in lieu of penalty with land- and online-based casino operator The Rank Group PLC t/a Grosvenor Casinos (“Rank”) £500,000 following an investigation into Rank’s failure to protect a customer with significant gambling problems. The customer in question was a longstanding, very high net value inpidual who lived overseas. Rank’s failure to adequately address the customer’s problems allowed the customer to lose in excess of £1 million in a single 24-hour period.

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Disappointing result for the online gaming industry as Remote Gaming Duty rate increases from 15% to 21% from 1 October 2019

As previously reported on Law-Now (see here), the Government announced in May 2018 that the maximum stakes on Fixed Odds Betting Terminals (“FOBTs”) are to be reduced from £100 to £2. The Government stated at the time that the rate of Remote Gaming Duty (“RGD”) would be increased from its current level of 15% to mitigate the negative impact on public finances arising from this change (presumably through reduced takings of Machine Games Duty (“MGD”) from FOBTs). The increased rate of RGD was not confirmed in this press release but was hoped by many to be no more than 20%.

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Gambling Commission fines Rank Group £500,000 for failing to protect problem gambler

On 13 November 2018, the Gambling Commission ("Commission") announced its findings that online gambling business Daub Alderney t/a Stride ("Stride") had breached conditions of its licence relating to anti-money laundering measures ("AML") and had failed to comply with social responsibility codes of practice ("SRC"). Stride will also have extra conditions placed on its licence. The Commission's full statement can be found here.

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Dutch Gaming Authority fines online betting operators CyberRock and Honeydew EUR 350,000

In its ruling on 18 October 2018, the Dutch Gaming Authority (DGA) fined Curaçao-based CyberRock Entertainment N.V. (CyberRock) and its Cyprus-based subsidiary Honeydew Trading Limited (Honeydew) EUR 350,000 for illegally offering online games of chance in the Netherlands.

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Belgium tightens legislation on online gambling advertising: for better or for worse?

In Belgium, the online gambling sector has experienced significant growth over the last few years, despite the restrictive policy put in place by the authorities.

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ASA rules against gambling operators for targeted in-app ads

On 7 November 2018, the Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”) published a ruling in relation to a twitter ad posted from the official Twitter account of racecourse trainer Nicky Henderson. The ASA found that the ad breached the UK Code of Non-Broadcast Advertising (the “CAP Code”).

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ASA rules in favour of William Hill

On 31st October 2018, the Advertising Standards Authority (“ASA”) published their ruling in relation to a TV ad run during the World Cup by WHG (International) Ltd (“William Hill”). The ASA ruled in William Hill’s favour, finding the ad did not breach the UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (“BCAP”) Code.

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ASA rules against Unibet

On 17 October 2018, the Advertising Standards Authority ("ASA") published two rulings in relation to ads for 32Red Ltd t/a 32red.com ("32Red") and LeoVegas Gaming plc t/a 21.co.uk ("LeoVegas").

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Gambling Marketing Affiliates: A Guide to Compliance

Affiliates are coming under greater scrutiny from regulators seeking to rein in opportunistic advertising practices, as well as gambling operators who themselves are facing enormous regulatory pressure in relation to affiliates’ activities.

In the UK, operators are directly responsible for the actions of their affiliates.

Download the summary here.

The information contained in this update is intended as a general review of the subjects featured and detailed specialist advice should always be taken before taking or refraining from taking any action.