U.K. gambling firms face huge fines, loss of license over problem gambling

[The Buzz]

According to an article in Sunday's The Guardian, gambling firms that "fail to tackle" problem gambling and money laundering will face "heftier fines" and a "higher risk" of losing their operating license under a tougher regime to be unveiled by the U.K. Gambling Commission later this month.

The Gambling Commission will lay out its new enforcement strategy this month, detailing how bookmakers, casinos and online gaming companies who are deemed to have breached regulations will be punished. The new stance follows a year in which several major bookmakers reached voluntary settlements for failing to prevent money laundering or problem gambling. The regulator has yet to publish the details of its harsher regime but chief executive Sarah Harrison recently warned gambling firms to expect tougher policing to ensure they were not used for money laundering and “terrorist financing."

Read more here: https://www.theguardian.com/society/...oblem-gambling

[Mattbar]

Good, I'm glad, the cleaner the industry the better.

[DanHorvat]

In order to make the regulations tighter they'd first have to understand the very industry they're regulating.

[Sherlock]

Just came back from London full of raw emotions. To make story short I thought there was something wrong with UK affiliates/gambling industry. Now I think there is something wrong with the UK. I will not go to further into offtopic. But I hope they will regulate the gambling to the point that the whales will need to move into deepweb (and deepweb for certain country will be soon any webpage that does not pay taxes in that country).

[celena]

In order to make the regulations tighter they'd first have to understand the very industry they're regulating.

That makes me think of France with their regulations, or half of the poker players are gone. It's not the same thing, but it's the same profile.

[Miles_Videoslots]

That is what regulations are for if you want to operate then do so by following the laws and if the regulators are soft and don not follow through then you will keep having those bad apples .. I would like to see some fines handed out to warn people to just abide by the regulations its good for everyone to have a clean industry.

[iBet Media]

It'll be a start, at least. Many operators have got away with some pretty shady stuff for far too long.. but I remain sceptical about how much the industry will actually change - they usually find a way around certain issues. More needs to be done by people outside the industry to educate the general public.

[bustedflush]

Possibly stupid question here, but the more tightly regulated the industry is, the less recommendation sites are important, don't you think? As an affiliate one of our main benefits to consumers is the ability to recommend the good operators and warn people away from the bad ones. I know a lot of affiliate sites do not do this, or do it badly, but personally I will feel like I have more value to give readers in a market where there is more variety. Regulation tends to breed conformity and stifle innovation.

[Mattbar]

Possibly stupid question here, but the more tightly regulated the industry is, the less recommendation sites are important, don't you think? As an affiliate one of our main benefits to consumers is the ability to recommend the good operators and warn people away from the bad ones. I know a lot of affiliate sites do not do this, or do it badly, but personally I will feel like I have more value to give readers in a market where there is more variety. Regulation tends to breed conformity and stifle innovation.

I would argue the opposite, the more regulation the easier it is for affiliates to recommend to good operators.

If punters and players know they can trust all sites with UK licence they will be more accepting and less suspicious of things like bonus offers and affiliate recommendations in general.

I disagree that you lose variety with better regulation. Variety shouldn't be a lottery between reputable and non-reputable sites it should be about the things that matter to people looking for a betting/gaming recommendation. If the users trust the market more it is easier for us to focus on the real differences between companies such as market coverage, offers, odds, games, payout rates, etc.

[bustedflush]

How can you say that regulation does not lead to less variety? There are plenty of operators, including some big, well-established ones, that will not accept UK traffic because of the licensing regime. Cherry Affiliates, which is one of the biggest brands in Scandinavia is one. Condor Affiliates, is another. Whether regulation is good or bad, it's patently not without trade-offs. Diminished variety is one of the most obvious ones.

[Miles_Videoslots]

How can you say that regulation does not lead to less variety? There are plenty of operators, including some big, well-established ones, that will not accept UK traffic because of the licensing regime. Cherry Affiliates, which is one of the biggest brands in Scandinavia is one. Condor Affiliates, is another. Whether regulation is good or bad, it's patently not without trade-offs. Diminished variety is one of the most obvious ones.

I agree to a point but your brief as an affiliate is to advise players of the best and safest places to play surely a regulated casino one that abides by the rules and regulations of the regulating country should be top of these recommendations as they clearly have done the necessary things in order to get that approval from the government to operate ? more and more countries are becoming wise to the fact that regulating is the way to go and affiliates i would think would want to show and give the correct advise to players. Why tell a player from the UK as an example to go play at a casino that has no UK Licence but accepts UK Players that isn't good advice as it could lead to the player losing out at some point should there be a crackdown

[Mattbar]

How can you say that regulation does not lead to less variety? There are plenty of operators, including some big, well-established ones, that will not accept UK traffic because of the licensing regime. Cherry Affiliates, which is one of the biggest brands in Scandinavia is one. Condor Affiliates, is another. Whether regulation is good or bad, it's patently not without trade-offs. Diminished variety is one of the most obvious ones.

There are hundreds of licenced sportbooks and casinos in the UK, there is plenty of variety. Big players that choose not to operate in the UK do so either because it’s a strategic decision or because they don't want to comply with the Gambling Commission and ASA rules.

I think we have a different definition of variety. Picking between licensed and unlicensed agents is not variety, picking between someone with NetEnt vs Playtech games for example is what I call variety.

If you don't like the 'variety' in the UK market as an affiliate then don't promote in the UK, promote in an unlicensed territory instead.

[David_Allegro]

In order to make the regulations tighter they'd first have to understand the very industry they're regulating.

Well said, for a patriots fan, lol. To me, this is the single largest issue with the online gaming industry. There are so many involved parties and none seem to know what the other is doing. While I agree that the industry needs to be cleaned up and these issues need to be addressed with strict legislation, like you, I question whether or not the people who are making the legislation have enough industry understanding to effectively legislate it.

[Mattbar]

I question whether or not the people who are making the legislation have enough industry understanding to effectively legislate it.

Is this not the problem with every single legislative government body in the UK? The transport dept doesn't understand how trains work, the heath dept doesn't understand how healthcare works (especially mental health), the education dept needs educating, etc.

Imagine how the world could be if politicians and legislators knew what they were doing hey.....

[David_Allegro]

Imagine how the world could be if politicians and legislators knew what they were doing hey.....

And then maybe we could finally see those flying pigs I keep hearing about.