commission Archives - CasinoBeats https://casinobeats.com/tag/commission/ The pulse of the global gaming industry Wed, 19 Feb 2025 16:47:10 +0000 en-US hourly 1 https://wordpress.org/?v=6.8.1 https://casinobeats.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/cropped-favicon-32x32.png commission Archives - CasinoBeats https://casinobeats.com/tag/commission/ 32 32 Howard League Commission to consider link ‘between crime and problem gambling’ http://casinobeats.com/2019/06/21/howard-league-commission-to-consider-link-between-crime-and-problem-gambling/ Fri, 21 Jun 2019 08:51:56 +0000 http://casinobeats.com/?p=17945 The Howard League for Penal Reform, the UK charity that works for reduction in crime and prison reform, is to launch a three-year Commission on Crime and Problem Gambling The Commission will be lead by chair Lord Peter Goldsmith QC and cover the following three broad topic areas: What are the links between crime and […]

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The Howard League for Penal Reform, the UK charity that works for reduction in crime and prison reform, is to launch a three-year Commission on Crime and Problem Gambling

The Commission will be lead by chair Lord Peter Goldsmith QC and cover the following three broad topic areas:

  • What are the links between crime and problem gambling?
  • What impact does this link have on communities and society?
  • What should be done?

Lord Goldsmith is joined on the 15-strong investigative team by Commissioners drawn from the police and legal sector, academics, campaigners for reform and one representative from the gambling sector, Andrew Black, co-founder of Betfair. View the full list here.

Announcing the Commission, the Howard League wrote in a statement: “The impact of problem gambling on crime is a burgeoning area of international concern, with a scale and diversity of offending that reflects a growing national and international portfolio of gambling activities. The Commission will lead in developing our understanding of, and ability to respond to, the links between problem gambling and crime.

“The Commission will investigate patterns of crime linked to problem gambling and the societal harms that link crime and problem gambling, before seeking to make recommendations for government, the gambling industry and within the criminal justice system.”

The Commission also issued a call fro written evidence “from academics, practitioners and policy makers within the criminological; gambling industry; legal and health disciplines; and people who are expert by experience. We welcome examples of international evidence examining the links between crime and problem gambling.”

Read the full announcement here.

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UKGC lauds critical improvements to licence management service https://casinobeats.com/2020/08/20/ukgc-lauds-critical-improvements-to-licence-management-service/ Thu, 20 Aug 2020 11:30:35 +0000 https://casinobeats.com/?p=35734 The UK Gambling Commission has lauded the success of its new online service, first launched towards the end of 2019, which supports licensees to manage and maintain personal licences. Aiming to develop a much more efficient process through a more streamlined, simpler service, it was said to have had over 4,000 users logging on within […]

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The UK Gambling Commission has lauded the success of its new online service, first launched towards the end of 2019, which supports licensees to manage and maintain personal licences.

Aiming to develop a much more efficient process through a more streamlined, simpler service, it was said to have had over 4,000 users logging on within the first few weeks of debuting.

The new portal, available on the Commission’s website, allows personal licence holders to quickly change personal details, report key events linked to their licence, and download e-copies of the licence itself, as well as including a processing tool that reduces processing time from several weeks to a few days.

Proving update feedback on the introduction, the regulator asserts a reduction in processing time of personal licence maintenance applications by 77 per cent, from an average of 53 days to just 12 days.

The time required for personal licence holders to complete and submit a maintenance application is also said to have come down from several days to under an hour, reducing the administration time for the personal licence holders and optimising efficiency.

“We are continuously improving the way we regulate and the continued effectiveness of the manage your personal licence service demonstrates this commitment,” commented Helen Venn, executive director of the UKGC.

“It has proven to be particularly critical during the lockdown period as applicants can simply upload all their accompanying documents to the service, as opposed to posting hard copies.

“We have tested the service with users from creation to launch and will continue to ensure that it meets their needs through regular user research and feedback.

“Accessibility is vital for us at the Commission and that’s why we have developed this service with accessibility at the forefront, it is essential that all users can use the service quickly and easily.”

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UKGC: Zero uplift in illegal gambling complaints https://casinobeats.com/2020/05/19/ukgc-zero-uplift-in-illegal-gambling-complaints/ Tue, 19 May 2020 12:40:04 +0000 https://casinobeats.com/?p=31234 The UK Gambling Commission has released new data highlighting that there hasn’t been an increase in the number of complaints about illegal gambling websites during lockdown.  Referring to the time frame since March 23 and highlighting that no spike has been evident by the UKGC, a total of 12 complaints about nine sites were made […]

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The UK Gambling Commission has released new data highlighting that there hasn’t been an increase in the number of complaints about illegal gambling websites during lockdown. 

Referring to the time frame since March 23 and highlighting that no spike has been evident by the UKGC, a total of 12 complaints about nine sites were made in March with 11 issues raised surrounding 11 entities a month later. The overall number of reports is said to have been stable over the past 12 months.

The regulator, who works with the National Cyber Security Centre to educate the industry and the public about the risks of illegal activity, boasts a team of specialists who monitor reports of illegal gambling and who then use a variety of tools to combat illegal websites and ensure that they are not offering services to British consumers.

Richard Watson, Gambling Commission executive director, explained: “Our data does not indicate there has been an increase in any illegal gambling in Britain during the covid-19 crisis.

”It is an area we monitor carefully and where we find problems we use our broad range of investigatory powers, alongside stakeholders such as software providers, payment businesses and hosting companies.

“Tackling illegal websites and unlicensed operators is challenging and it is also resource intensive, but we are committed to continuing our work in this area to protect consumers here in Britain.”

This follows the Commission releasing new data on the impact covid-19 is having on the gambling industry and consumers last week, with further updates to following in the coming period.

Overall impacts during the period found that fewer consumers are gambling overall but some, who are gambling already, are trying new products.

It was also shown that overall, gamblers are playing products at the same rate or less, but a majority of those who have participated in three or more gambling activities in the last four weeks are spending more time or money. An increase in the number of sessions per hour was also evident.

Furthermore, according to YouGov data those who had gambled in the past four weeks were more likely than the national average to have:

  • Spent more online on entertainment (17 per cent of gamblers compared to 11 per cent of all adults).
  • Watched TV more (58 per cent of gamblers compared to 42 per cent of all adults).
  • Viewed more news online (53 per cent of gamblers compared to 49 per cent of all adults).
  • Consumed more on-demand entertainment (51 per cent of gamblers compared to 35 per cent of all adults).

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UKGC outlines commitment for ‘making gambling safer’ https://casinobeats.com/2020/04/01/ukgc-outlines-commitment-for-making-gambling-safer/ Wed, 01 Apr 2020 09:30:49 +0000 http://casinobeats.com/?p=29049 The UK Gambling Commission has published its 2020/21 Business Plan which outlines its commitment to reducing gambling-related harm in 2020, placing heightened emphasis on the online gambling sector. In its 2020/21 Business Plan the UKGC outlined five strategic priorities which will be “centred around making gambling safer.” The regulator emphasised the need for improved consumer protection, […]

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The UK Gambling Commission has published its 2020/21 Business Plan which outlines its commitment to reducing gambling-related harm in 2020, placing heightened emphasis on the online gambling sector.

In its 2020/21 Business Plan the UKGC outlined five strategic priorities which will be “centred around making gambling safer.”

The regulator emphasised the need for improved consumer protection, prevention of harm, improvements to the way the UKGC regulates the industry, improvement of standards in the gambling industry and the optimisation of returns to good causes from lotteries.

Neil McArthur, chief executive of the Gambling Commission, said: “We begin a new financial year in extraordinary circumstances, the Covid-19 virus will bring significant challenges for us all, including the gambling industry.

“With social distancing measures in place people are more likely to feel isolated and now more than ever operators must ensure that consumer safety is paramount.

“Gambling related harm must be drastically reduced and if operators cannot protect customers from harm we are ready and willing to act; if necessary we will use our powers to suspend and revoke operating and personal licences.”

As part of the National Strategy to reduce gambling harm the commission has assured it will continue to work alongside partners to ensure improvements in prevention, education, treatment and support resources are developed.

“Since our review of online gambling in 2018 we have tightened age and ID verification rules, strengthened rules around customer interaction, and unfair terms and conditions and most recently we banned gambling on credit cards.”

McArthur continued: “This year we will continue to deliver our recommendations by addressing VIP incentives and making online advertising and online gambling products safer.

“The volume and complexity of our work continues to grow.  However, we will continue to focus our resources on the areas that have maximum impact for the greatest number of consumers and will make sure we have the capacity and capability to keep pace with emerging issues and risks that regulating a complex industry requires.”

The Commission has also highlighted its support to the Government’s planned review of the Gambling Act and have already started working to take account of the findings in the recent National Audit Office Report into gambling regulations.

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British online market now world’s largest as regulator mulls tighter controls https://casinobeats.com/2018/03/19/british-online-market-now-worlds-largest/ Mon, 19 Mar 2018 12:52:16 +0000 http://casinobeats.com/?p=2531 Publishing its review of the online gaming market in Great Britain, the UK Gambling Commission has confirmed that the British industry now generates an annual gross gambling yield of £4.7bn, making it the largest regulated online gambling market in the world. The regulator said in the review: “Consumers today have access to a wider range […]

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Publishing its review of the online gaming market in Great Britain, the UK Gambling Commission has confirmed that the British industry now generates an annual gross gambling yield of £4.7bn, making it the largest regulated online gambling market in the world.

The regulator said in the review: “Consumers today have access to a wider range of online markets and games than ever before with few limits on when, where or how they choose to gamble.

“Consumers in general are increasingly accustomed to transacting online and this is also the case for gambling.”

Participation survey data from the Commission showed that, in the year to December 2017, 18.3 per cent of respondents had gambled online in the past four weeks, up from 15.5 per cent in the year to December, 2014.

The regulator’s industry statistics show that there were around 23 million active accounts in the year to March 31, 2017, which equates to approximately seven million individual consumers.

Mobile to account for 50% in 2 years

“We estimate that nearly 40 per cent of total remote GGY is generated through operators’ mobile channels and this is forecast to exceed 50 per cent by 2020. For some market leaders this figure is thought to be as high as 75 per cent,” the Commission said.

The Commission forecasts that online gambling will increase from 34 per cent to 50 per cent of the total British market by GGY over the coming years. The regulator then went on to identify four key issues for the online gaming sector to address, along with resulting key policy actions.

Age verification

On age verification, the Commission said it considered it no longer necessary to allow operators 72 hours to complete age verification adding that, in many cases, operators are already doing it before customers gamble. “We also have more general concerns about the availability of play-for-free games,” the Commission said.

“These games are not gambling – they are free and there is no prize. But they may encourage young people to gamble. These concerns also apply to gambling-style games that are offered by non-gambling operators (and over which gambling legislation and the Commission have no remit). At present, we have no requirements regarding access to play-for-free games offered by licensed operators. We think operators should be providing greater protections in these areas.”

“We will consult on amending the LCCP [Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice] to require AV to be completed on all consumers before they can deposit money and gamble, and for play-for-free games to be available only after AV is completed.”

Customer identification

The Commission said that many failings arise “because operators do not know enough about their customers at an early enough stage of their relationship.”

“In addition, we are concerned that operators may be treating their customers unfairly by requesting additional information only at the point where the customer has requested a withdrawal,” writes the Commission.

In response, the regulator is to consult on introducing a customer due diligence requirement “so that operators will have more information about their customers at an earlier stage.

“This would require players to be verified before they were allowed to gamble. We will also consult on requirements that would mean operators had to set limits on players’ spending which could only be increased once they had further verified information about the player, for example via an affordability check.”

Terms and conditions

The Commission and the Competition and Markets Authority launched a joint review of the online sector due to concerns about unfair terms and conditions. This review found widespread instances of unfair terms and practices in relation to promotional offers.

“The CMA is taking action in relation to several operators, and we will be conducting compliance activity to apply the same standards across the industry,” said the regulator.

Ineffective customer interaction

“Our work has indicated that although some operators are starting to make progress, there are still inadequacies in the online sector’s approach to customer interaction” writes the Commission.

“Some operators are starting to use data more effectively to identify potential indicators of harm at the earliest possible stage and provide effective support and advice to consumers to reduce it. But this needs to become more widespread.”

The Commission said it had recently published guidance to operators in order to raise standards in customer interaction across all operators and will build on this in teh next year or so with a consultation on amending the LCCP customer interaction requirement.

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