Gambling Commission Online Services. We publish the names of all companies and individuals who hold, or have applied for, operating licences in Great Britain. Latest news: Gambling Commission welcomes publication of Gambling Act Review Call for Evidence We license and regulate the people and businesses that provide gambling in Great Britain including the National Lottery.

• British Gambling Authority Act
• British Gambling Authority Definition
• British Gambling Authority Meaning

The UK gambling industry offers diverse forms of gambling to the public including casino games, sports-betting, bingo and gaming machines. All these are available on the high street and online from operators who hold the necessary licences issued by the Gambling Commission and local authorities. You are advised to check on an operator's website which of its products is licensed and by whom, and whether you are satisfied from a review of the regulator's site that you will be adequately protected if you play.

For information about the Gambling Commission, the regulators of the British gambling industry, please go to www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk.

Some more financial market-based products (such as 'contracts for difference') are not licensed by the Gambling Commission, and may be licensed by the Financial Conduct Authority (www.fca.org.uk) or even by foreign regulators (in the case of some binary options).

Legal Ages

As a general rule, the minimum legal age for gambling in the UK is 18 years old. This applies to adult gaming centres, betting shops, bingo halls, casinos, racetracks and online gambling. The exceptions to this are the National Lottery, lotteries and football pools – you’re allowed to take part in these from the age of 16 as well as some non-commercial gambling, or low stakes and prizes gambling. However, some gaming machines, such as coin pushers, teddy grabbers and some lower stakes fruit machines in family entertainment centres and amusement arcades don’t have a minimum legal age and are open to anyone. Note that a person who is over the age of 16 and under 18 who participates in gambling (not permitted under these exemptions) is also guilty of a criminal offence.

Responsible Advertising

The industry code for socially responsible advertising can be found here. More information about the code, including details about how to make a complaint about an advert, can be found here. Adverts should usually include a link to our website.

Social Gaming

Currently in the UK games that do not enable you to win anything in money or money's worth fall outside regulation. However the worldwide popularity of some of these games which are constructed be highly interactive, sociable and compelling (particularly where they bear a resemblance to play for real casino games), may ultimately prompt regulators in the UK and elsewhere to regulate.

British Gambling Authority Act

Financial Spread Betting

Financial spread betting is not regulated by the Gambling Commission in Britain, rather it is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority. This means that companies offering financial spread betting opportunities to customers have to be licenced by, and abide by the rules set out by, the FCA. You can check with the Financial Services Register to make sure a company holds a licence to operate in the UK. There are some similarities between spread betting and gambling: the outcome of the financial transaction is uncertain and there is a risk of losing your money. These factors can lead to people finding it difficult to control the amount of time and money they spend on spread betting. Anyone experiencing difficulties with spread betting can seek help and support from the National Gambling Helpline 0808 8020 133 and the National Gambling Treatment Service.

Complaining about Gambling

GambleAware does not deal with complaints about gambling. Find out more about how to complain here.

The Gambling Commission is an executive non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom responsible for regulating gambling and supervising gaming law in Great Britain. Its remit covers arcades, betting, bingo, casinos, slot machines and lotteries, as well as remote gambling, but not spread betting.

The stated aims of the Commission are to keep crime out of gambling, and to protect the vulnerable. It issues licences to operators, and advises the government on gambling-related issues. It also collaborates with the police over suspected illegal gambling.The Commission replaced the Gaming Board for Great Britain in 2007. In 2013 it assumed responsibility for regulating the National Lottery.

History[edit]

The Gambling Commission was established under the Gambling Act 2005 and assumed full powers in 2007, taking over responsibility from the Gaming Board for Great Britain, in regulating arcades, betting, bingo, casinos, slot machines and lotteries, but not spread betting (regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority).^[1][2] The Commission is a non-departmental public body, sponsored by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.^[3]

It is also responsible for the remote gambling which includes betting online, by telephone and other communication devices using the equipment, that offer or advertise services to the residents of Great Britain.^[4]

On 1 October 2013 the National Lottery Commission, which regulated the National Lottery, became part of the Gambling Commission.^[5][6]

In October 2020, the Commission published results of an investigation of BGO, GAN, and NetBet, three UK online gambling operators. Commission concluded that in the period between September 2018 and March 2020 the operators did not make enough efforts to keep gamblers' safe and prevent money laundering.^[7]

Responsibilities[edit]

Aims and objectives[edit]

The Commission's stated aims are 'to keep crime out of gambling, to ensure that gambling is conducted fairly and openly, and to protect children and vulnerable people'. However, critics note its ADR process and default non-disclosure of complaints as often part of 'standard procedure' contrasts directly with the validity of this claimed remit.^[8]

The Commission released a new 2018/19 business plan with the goals of improving industry standards, consumer protections and to further public protection from gambling related harm.^[9][10]

Licensing[edit]

The Commission issues licences to gambling operators, can levy fines and revoke licences, and is tasked with investigating and prosecuting illegal gambling. It is also responsible for advising national and local government on gambling-related issues.^[8]

Remote gambling[edit]

For remote gambling, the Commission issues licences to those operators whose remote gambling equipment is located in the territory of Great Britain. Whilst, those operators who wish to advertise their services in England, Wales, or Scotland, but are based outside the country, have to obtain a licence from the Gambling Commission following the passage of the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014. The 2014 Act changed the licensing requirements so that any company wishing to advertise gambling and take bets from consumers in England, Wales, or Scotland must hold a licence issued by the Gambling Commission. Previously, an operator in one of the whitelisted gambling jurisdictions could advertise their services in Great Britain without requiring a separate license from the Commission.^{[8][11][12][13]} The proposals were opposed by the gambling industry, including the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association.^[14]

Monitoring and regulation[edit]

The list of responsibilities of the Gambling Commission includes work to ensure that licensees act in accordance with the requirements imposed by the Gambling Act 2005 and other related regulations and standards. The Commission has the right to visit its licensees and examine their financial activities. As a result of this examination, specialists from the Gambling Commission can issue recommendations for amendments. Apart from such advice, supplementary licence conditions can be set or removed. In some cases, the Commission may take action to correct or avoid certain misconducts.^[15]

Apart from reviewing the activities of the licensed operators, the Commission is authorised to take regulatory actions against those licensees who breach the rules in some way. The range of actions that may need to be taken varies from issuing a warning to inflicting a fine on those who violate licence conditions. In situations where additional investigation is required, the licence can be revoked.^{[citation needed]}

The Intelligence department of the Gambling Commission collects information about the illegal activities related to their field and conducts preliminary investigation to build a picture of the situation and inform senior management. They also collaborate with other UK organisations and the police in cases where suspicious betting or gambling activities are detected.^[16]

The list of operators and personal licence holders who have had a regulatory sanction imposed on them is published on the site of the Gambling Commission.^[17]

Notable Actions[edit]

In December 2016 the Gambling Commission fined Camelot Group £3 million for failing to verify a fraudulent National Lottery ticket that had been presented in 2009. The Commission found that Camelot had poor fraud prevention controls in place and that it had breached the terms of its licence.^[18] The case was subsequently investigated by police, who found that a Camelot employee who worked in Camelot's fraud department had conspired with a member of the public to claim a jackpot prize of £2.5 million using a bogus ticket.^[19][20][21]

In February 2018, the Commission fined British bookmaker William Hill £6.2 million for not protecting players after a series of systematic failures to prevent money laundering.^[22]

The Commission issued a £600,000 penalty to LeoVegas in May 2018 for producing misleading adverts to customers as well as several self-exclusion failings.^[23] The following month, in June 2018, the Commission fined 32Red £2 million for failing a problem gambler who had deposited £758,000 with 32Red over more than two years. 32Red had failed to check the customer, who had a net income of £2,150 per month, could afford the bets despite several previous regulatory rulings in this area.^[24]

On 31 July 2019 the Commission announced that Ladbrokes Coral would pay £5.9m for past failings in anti-money laundering and social responsibility. An investigation found that the companies failed to put in place effective safeguards to prevent consumers suffering gambling harm and against money laundering between November 2014 and October 2017.^[25]

Criticisms[edit]

The Gambling Commission has come under fire for not preventing the spread of Fixed odds betting terminals on the high street. Their spread is linked to the transfer of responsibility for planning permission for bookmakers moving from the Gambling Commission to local authorities.^{[citation needed]}

In 2014, the UK-regulated online bookmaker Canbet went into receivership, owing millions to customers. The demise of this site raised questions of the ability of the Commission to protect UK customers from rogue traders, although overall responsibility for UK online regulation was only given to the UKGC in November 2014.^[26]

In September 2014, UK-regulated online bookmaker BetButler closed down, leaving a message on its website reading 'The Board of BetButler Limited has been approached by a third party regulated gaming business to acquire the customer database, including all balances and pending withdrawal requests, of the business. This process will take some days to complete.' Concerns were raised about pay out times and their financial state many months before this appeared. Again, the Gambling Commission have been criticised.^[27]

Charities[edit]

In January 2020 UK Gambling Commission approves three charities for compulsory funding from gambling operators.^{[citation needed]}

See also[edit]

References[edit]

1. ^'Gambling Act 2005', legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 2005 c. 19
2. ^'FCA proposes stricter rules for contract for difference products'. Financial Conduct Authority. 6 December 2016. Retrieved 4 June 2016.
3. ^'Departments, agencies and public bodies'. Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
4. ^'What we do'. www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 22 January 2020.
5. ^'About us'. Government of the United Kingdom. Retrieved 4 June 2017.
6. ^Statutory Instrument 2013 No. 2329The Public Bodies (Merger of the Gambling Commission and the National Lottery Commission) Order 2013
7. ^Insider, Gambling. 'GC gives ruling after investigation into online operators'. www.gamblinginsider.com. Retrieved 7 November 2020.
8. ^ ^abcThe Gambling Commission: What it is and what it does (PDF)]
9. ^'Gambling Commission Business Plan 2018-2019'(PDF). Retrieved 4 May 2018.
10. ^'UKGC Announces 2019 Plan to Improve Industry Standards'. 2 May 2018. Retrieved 4 May 2018.
11. ^'New UK gambling law explained: what's all the fuss about?'[1]Right Casino. Retrieved 6 October 2014.
12. ^Macgregor, Ewen (19 November 2014). 'World Sports Law Report Blog > The impact of the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014'. World Sports Law Report. e-comlaw.com. Retrieved 7 June 2017.
13. ^'Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014', legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 2014 c. 17
14. ^Biddle, Susan & Ferrie, Audrey. 'What the gambling industry can expect in 2014'. Out-law.com. Retrieved 21 January 2014.
15. ^'Compliance'. Gambling Commission. Retrieved 28 June 2017.
16. ^Keaveny, Paul; Mike Hornby. 'Wayne Rooney's father bailed in betting probe'. The Independent. Retrieved 19 April 2014.
17. ^Gambling Commission: Regulatory Powers
18. ^Marston, Rebecca (16 December 2016). 'National Lottery firm Camelot fined for £2.5m suspect ticket win'. BBC News. Archived from the original on 17 December 2016. Retrieved 1 January 2017.
19. ^Cockerell, Jennifer (3 July 2012). 'Lottery winner rapist Edward Putman admits fraud'. The Independent. Archived from the original on 23 October 2019. Retrieved 23 October 2019.
20. ^'Man convicted over £2.5m National Lottery fake ticket fraud'. The Guardian. 4 October 2019. Archived from the original on 5 October 2019. Retrieved 24 October 2019.
21. ^'Camelot licence breach leads to financial penalty'. Gambling Commission. Archived from the original on 25 October 2019. Retrieved 25 October 2019.
22. ^'William Hill fined £6.2m for failing to protect customers and prevent money laundering'. independent.co.uk. 20 February 2018. Retrieved 14 March 2018.
23. ^Davies, Rob (2 May 2018). 'LeoVegas fined for accepting bets from problem gamblers'. the Guardian. Retrieved 6 June 2018.
24. ^Davies, Rob (20 June 2018). 'Online casino 32Red fined £2m for failing problem gambler'. The Guardian. Retrieved 20 June 2018.
25. ^'Ladbrokes Coral Group to pay £5.9m for past failings in anti-money laundering and social responsibility'. www.gamblingcommission.gov.uk. Retrieved 13 August 2019.
26. ^'Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014', legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives, 2014 c. 17
27. ^'Distressed BetButler stops trading ahead of potential sale'. SBC News. 1 September 2014. Retrieved 4 June 2017.

British Gambling Authority Definition

External links[edit]

British Gambling Authority Meaning