Politics
As the political goodwill holding the coalition
together begins to strain as we get closer to the next election, gaming machines have found themselves in the firing line again.
GAMING MACHINES T
he Association of British Bookmakers (ABB) has once again found itself fire fighting on the issue of B2
gaming machines after the Liberal Democrats MP Don Foster pub- licly announced a campaign to get the maximum stake reduced to £2. As part of the Lib Dem confer- ence, Foster had a media blitz claiming that David Cameron and Nick Clegg have agreed to review gaming machines in betting shops. The ABB, which held an invite- only drinks night at the Lib Dem conference, quickly issued a state- ment of its own.
“There is no empirical evidence that B2 gaming machines cause problem gambling. To the contrary they are a popular product enjoyed by millions of people across the country and B2 machines have been located in betting shops for 10 years without any discernible increase in problem gambling levels. Indeed the 2010 Prevalence Study shows that 70 per cent of B2 customers play once a month or less which is hardly reflective of an addictive product.
“Nevertheless, the ABB would welcome independent research that will deal, once and for all, with some of the myths and more outra- geous claims levelled against B2 machines.”
Given that FOBTs were ‘on pro-
ABB challenges gaming machine ‘myths’
GAMING MACHINES ARE UNDER THE POLITICAL SPOTLIGHT AGAIN
bation’ for almost ten years when they were first introduced to the betting shop, the ABB is perhaps a little optimistic for the issue to be dealt with ‘once and for all’ but some clear evidence for the Daily Mail to ignore would be useful. The ABB continued: “The Responsible Gambling Strategy Board has already prioritised research into Category B machines and is working on the project with the Responsible Gambling Trust. The gambling industry is fully com- mitted to independent research and will make data and other infor- mation available to the researchers. We are as keen as anyone to see the outcomes of the research so that there can be a proper evidence based debate around gambling policy, particu- larly in respect of machines.” Given the parlous economic sit- uation that the country still finds itself in under the coalition gov- ernment, the ABB made sure that
the gaming machine’s contribu- tion to wider economy was high- lighted. It added: “At the same time it should not be forgotten that 8m people visit betting shops each year and that the industry supports 100,000 jobs and contributes £3.2bn per annum to the UK economy. In these difficult times economic growth and jobs are vital to the UK economy and should not be put at risk by social policy which is not fully supported by independ- ent empirical evidence.”
Indeed, it is the considerable amount of tax revenue that gaming machine raise for the Treasury, which is due to increase even further with the onset of Machine Games Duty (MGD) next February, that will no doubt work as some kind of protective shield within the government, especially without solid evidence against gaming machines, which the ABB seems relatively confident will not exist.
ANALYSIS
Don Foster has been a thorn in the industry’s side since the formation of the coalition government even though he was not handed a ministerial role. His long report into the issue of sleepers has been ‘filed’ at the DCMS and with a bit of luck so will his other missives on gambling. Now he has finally been given a ministerial seat in the latest shake up (thankfully in the Department for
Communities and Local Government rather than the DCMS) Foster will have other things to concentrate on rather than trying to make an impact in a department in which he is no longer involved.
Betfair complaint about Cyprus laws CYPRUS B
etting exchange Betfair has lodged a formal complaint with the European Commis- sion in relation to recently passed Cypriot gambling legislation. The law could lead to betting exchanges being prevented from operating in their current format in Cyprus. The new law was adopted by the Cypriot Parliament on 6 July 2012 and also pro- hibits cash betting trans- actions by betting operators. Betfair’s formal com- plaint to the European Commission states that any attempted ban on betting exchanges is a discriminatory and dispropor-
RESPONSIBLE OPERATOR’ 16 BettingBusinessInteractive • OCTOBER 2012
tionate breach of EU law as it may apply only to exchange providers, with all other sports betting prod- ucts remaining unaffected. According to the exchange, the Cypriot authorities have sought to justify the restriction based on ‘unfounded and misinformed’ concerns relating to a sup- posed increased risk of money laundering as well as match-fixing. They have been unable to produce any evidence of increased risk of money laundering through exchanges, as required by EU law, to substantiate these claims. Betfair highlighted the fact that it has actively engaged
MARTIN CRUDDACE: ‘BETFAIR IS A
TRANSPARENT AND
on the issue of match fixing with a far reaching memorandum of understanding for exchange of information with the Cyprus Foot- ball Association in suspected cases. It has also said that it will continue to attempt to operate in Cyprus while the complaint is heard by the Commission. Betfair operations in Cyprus are currently run through Master Sub- Account agreements with local Cypriot partners and shop owners. The firm believes that barring sub- accounts is disproportionate under EU law as the incumbent system could have been subject to effective controls by shop owners and online operators.
Chief legal and regulatory officer Martin Cruddace said: “Having played a constructive role in the preparatory phase of a draft Cypriot law, we were disappointed
with the inclusion of elements within it which could unfairly dis- criminate Betfair and in any event are clearly incompatible with EU law. We have therefore asked the Commission to review the matter and engage with the Cypriot authorities, with the aim of addressing the concerns raised in our complaint.
“Betfair is a transparent and responsible operator, with a track record of working coopera- tively alongside governments in any jurisdiction in which it oper- ates. Current Cypriot law goes against European free market principles and we look forward to working with the Commission and the Cypriot government so we can continue to provide our Cypriot customers with Betfair’s best-in-class Exchange product and odds value.”
Malta and Jersey team up
MOU T
wo of Europe’s online gam- bling regulators have con- tinued the trend for co-operation with the signing of a new a Memorandum of Under- standing (MoU). Malta’s Lotter- ies and Gaming Authority (LGA) and Jersey’s Gambling Commis- sion (JGC) have entered into on MoU bilateral cooperation. With this MoU the two juris- dictions say that they ‘recog- nise the common values underlying their regulation of remote gaming namely to ensure consumer protection and the protection of society and public order, amongst others, and to regulate in such a way as to ensure fair, responsi- ble and secure provision of gaming services, implemented through robust and comprehen- sive systems, mechanisms and monitoring’.
The two jurisdictions aim to develop common responsible gaming measures and enhance consumer and player protection measures including the protec- tion of minors and the vulnera- ble. In addition, both jurisdictions have committed to strive to develop and share common reg- ulatory best practices including employee exchange programs, common certification standards and other practical and opera- tive arrangements to reflect technological and other relevant developments in the area. The MoU, signed by LGA CEO Reuben Portanier and JGC chief executive Jason Lane, will provide a formal basis and framework for co-operation between the two jurisdictions, including for the exchange of information and investigative assistance of providers and remote gaming services. The MoU also addresses issues such as cloud regulation, the recognition of the use of finan- cial institutions located in the territory of either jurisdiction for gaming transactions, the recog- nition of national certification bodies and player liquidity. In the meantime, the LGA has moved to distance itself from an operator it says is using its logo without authorisation. In a state- ment, it said: “The Lotteries and Gaming Authority would like to inform the public that the website
Owbet.com has no connection whatsoever with the Authority and therefore any reference to the Authority or Malta and, or any gaming licence issued in Malta on the mentioned web- sites are false and misleading. “The Authority advises the public not to play with these sites as they are not licensed by the Authority. The public is advised to play responsibly with operators licensed by jurisdic- tions that have sound remote gaming regulations.”
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