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Betting and Gaming Council’s Response To Peers For Gambling Reform’s Report

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Michael Dugher, the chief executive of Betting and Gaming Council (BGC), issued a statement as a response to recommendations of a recent report by Peers for Gambling Reform (PGR), an informal group of legislators with a common interest in gambling reform.

PGR had claimed in the report, based on the findings in its study that an overhaul of gambling would have a positive social effect on gambling in terms of employment, tax revenue and staff salary.

We reproduce here excerpts from BGC’s response.

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“We welcome the Government’s Gambling Review and we are confident that Ministers will make sensible decisions for the future that are based on serious evidence, rather than the fantasy figures contained in this report.

“We 100 per cent committed to change and we hope that the White Paper will lead to a package of reforms that continue recent significant improvements in safer gambling.

“The dream of anti-gambling prohibitionists has always been to somehow force people not to gamble or to gamble less, just because they don’t like betting. A minority of peers may look down their noses at the millions of working people who enjoy a bet, but the truth is that the overwhelming majority do so perfectly safely. And the idea that somehow restricting betting would create more jobs is economically daft and frankly for the birds. This is the theory that if you closed the betting shops there would somehow be a boom in the sale of scented candles.

An authoritative report earlier this year by EY found that BGC members alone support 119,000 jobs, generates £4.5bn in tax to the Treasury and contributed £7.7bn for the UK economy in gross value added in 2019. This contribution will be vital as the Government tries to repair the nation’s finances in the wake of the pandemic.

“The financial support our members have given to sports such as horse racing, football, rugby league, darts and snooker has been a lifeline over the past year, so the suggestion that a ban on sponsorship will do anything other than drive people to the black market is bizarre.

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“Furthermore, our members are spending £100m on research, education and treatment of problem gambling, as well as £10m on the Young People’s Gambling Harm Prevention programme.

“If people were restricted from betting in the regulated industry, they would simply migrate to the growing unlicensed, unsafe black market online that employs no one, pays no tax and contributes nothing to UK plc.”

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Compliance Updates

UKGC Imposes Fine of £375,000 on Football Pools Limited

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The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has imposed a fine of £375,000 on online gambling business, Football Pools Limited, after a Commission investigation revealed social responsibility and anti-money laundering failures. The breaches were occurred between September 2022 and August 2023.

John Pierce, Commission Director of Enforcement, said: “This case demonstrates that the Licensee’s approach to anti-money laundering risk profiling and monitoring was insufficient, allowing high-risk customers to continue gambling before completing necessary enhanced due diligence checks.

“In addition, the Licensee was over-reliant on financial alerts that whilst preventing significant losses meant it failed to engage in a timely manner with some customers who were potentially experiencing other markers of gambling-related harm such as time spent gambling and high velocity spend.

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“While it is recognised that necessary improvements have been made by the Licensee following the completion of the compliance assessment, the Commission will take further action if these standards are not maintained.”

The post UKGC Imposes Fine of £375,000 on Football Pools Limited appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Health and Social Care Committee to Hear Evidence on Gambling-related Harms

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The Health and Social Care Select Committee will examine the current gambling landscape and the potential for harms caused by developments in gambling products in a one-off oral evidence session on Wednesday 2 April.

In 2023, approximately 25 million people in England gambled, and in the financial year to March 2024 the British gambling industry had a gross gambling yield (GGY) of £15.6 billion.

The Government has said it wants to facilitate a “cultural shift” in the understanding of gambling-related harms to reduce stigma associated with getting help. The session will see MPs probe what is needed to develop an effective public health response to gambling-related harms, and the Government’s role in leading and delivering this work.

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As part of their questioning on the public health response to gambling-related harms, MPs will ask witnesses’ views on what role public health teams need to have within wider local authority services to reduce potential for gambling-related harms, and whether they think the current rules sufficiently safeguard children and vulnerable people from gambling-related harms.

In November 2024, the Government announced the introduction of a statutory levy on gambling operators, which will provide, for the first time, a dedicated statutory investment for prevention work. From April 2025, the Gambling Commission will be responsible for collecting and administering the new levy, under the strategic direction of the UK government.

In light of this, the session will see MPs pose questions to witnesses on the commissioning of effective treatment and prevention services in the context of the statutory levy on gambling operators and the role of the Gambling Commission in regulating the industry.

The post Health and Social Care Committee to Hear Evidence on Gambling-related Harms appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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Changes to Tipping Off Offence Came into Effect in Australia

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Businesses and individuals bound by the tipping off offence must now consider whether a disclosure could be expected to prejudice an investigation, under changes to the AML/CTF laws that came into force on March 31.

The changes to the offence, which carries a maximum penalty of around $39,000 or up to 2 years in prison, are now focussed on the harms that could flow from a disclosure.

AUSTRAC CEO, Mr Brendan Thomas, said the change is part of AML/CTF reforms passed late last year to expand and simplify the legislation.

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“The previous legislation was almost 20 years old and a lot has changed in that time,” Mr Thomas said.

“AUSTRAC is about to usher in 100,000 new businesses to the regime next year and they too will be subject to the tipping off offence.

“The change to the offence is about balancing intelligence gathering with practicality to ensure we can all get the best outcome – identifying criminal activity and driving money laundering out of legitimate businesses.

“We need businesses to work with us to detect illicit transactions – tipping off risks criminals getting a heads up. Criminals can then take action to hide or disguise their illegal activities. However, we know that effective information sharing within and between businesses helps stop money laundering.”

Businesses and individuals covered by the AML/CTF legislation, including banks, casinos, remitters and money lenders, are now prohibited from disclosing certain information to another person (other than AUSTRAC), only where it would or could reasonably be expected to prejudice an investigation.

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“The move to a focus on harms strikes a better balance between protecting law enforcement investigations and allowing industry to collaborate in fighting money laundering, terrorism financing and other serious crimes.”

While the tipping off offence changes from March 31, most of the obligations under the amended AML/CTF Act will not come into effect until 2026, when entities in real estate, accounting, precious stones and metals and digital assets come under AUSTRAC’s remit.

The post Changes to Tipping Off Offence Came into Effect in Australia appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

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