The UK gambling sector has undergone significant changes over the past year due to regulatory updates and active efforts to improve support for operators.
Andrew Rhodes, CEO of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC), noted that the pace of work will only increase in the coming year. He spoke to delegates at the third annual industry leaders’ briefing, where, according to him, representatives from more than 85% of the UK’s GGY market were present.
“Let’s be clear – this is a very different situation we find ourselves in,” Rhodes added.
“Any operator of any real size and scale now who does not have well-developed algorithms, policies, procedures, interactions and interventions in place is increasingly an outlier and this will become more obvious as the industry continues to make developments in this area,” Rhodes commented.
To enhance support for operators facing changing conditions, the UKGC has actively collaborated with the Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) to develop a voluntary code of conduct aimed at addressing the disputes that often arise in consumer protection.
This code incorporated guidance on the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP), the latest version of which, 3.4.3, is still being adapted by operators.
As a result of the latest set of regulatory recommendations, consumer protection assessment outcomes have improved throughout 2024. According to Rhodes, from April to June this year, only 42% of these assessments returned “Good/Satisfactory” results.
However, data from July to September showed an increase in this figure to 75%, with only 25% of assessments indicating significant failures. The general outlook is that these results will continue to improve.
The UKGC’s revised approach to assessments now includes a deeper analysis, segmented by sectors, sub-sectors, and operator tiers, which will affect the proportion of operators with positive outcomes. This approach will provide a clearer picture of the gambling landscape in the UK and make it easier to identify “outliers” in compliance.
Another element that the UKGC is working to improve is simplifying the “complex issues” arising from numerous mergers and acquisitions, which often, despite no intent, lead to marketing errors due to a complicated technological infrastructure, where advertisements reach even those considered vulnerable.
Referring to the first meeting of its kind in 2022, Rhodes added: “I said then… [that] we would enter a much more complicated phase of regulation, where we would instead be dealing with more nuanced and more complicated issues, with less obvious solutions. This is where I think we are now.”
Enhanced Measures to Combat the Black Market
Rhodes also highlighted the importance of increased alignment and due diligence to combat the black market.
The Commission is at the forefront of international efforts to combat illegal gambling, as “since the beginning of April this year, the team has issued over 770 cease-and-desist notices, including 262 to operators and 205 to advertisers.”
Rhodes acknowledged the “successful start” in their approach but emphasized that more market data is needed for effective implementation of measures to support research aimed at understanding the true scale of illegal gambling in the UK and other regulated markets.
Commercial transparency is highlighted as a key tool in protecting regulated markets. Rhodes urged licensed operators to conduct thorough checks on their suppliers to ensure they are not supporting illegal activities. The Commission will be strengthened by efforts aimed at enhancing trust through improved compliance with regulatory standards, transparency, and communication.
“I said to you last year that I wanted to encourage you to use your commercial influence with any partner or supplier to ensure they were taking all the relevant steps to verify they were not supporting illegal activity in Great Britain. Today, I am going one step further and strongly suggest you all undertake due diligence to ensure none of your suppliers are directly or indirectly engaged in supporting unlicensed activity in this market.”
The Commission’s strategy to combat illegal gambling is aimed at having the maximum impact on the upper levels of the chain. This includes targets such as internet service providers (ISPs), payment providers, search engines, software suppliers, and others.
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