Insight
ONLINE GAMBLING Industry Collaboration
the Betting and Gaming Council was a new four-year national programme designed to improve the awareness and understanding of gambling associated risks amongst young people, their parents, families and youth professional workforce.
Brigid Simmonds, Chairman of the Betting and Gaming Council, welcomed the commitments: “Tis is a major step towards preventing underage gambling and addressing harm. Working together as an industry we will create a culture of safer gambling - increasing the competency of professionals who educate young people, increasing support for treatment, strengthening and expanding codes of practice and empowering consumers. Tese are commitments that the BGC will champion and drive forward to build public and institutional trust in our industry.”
COLLABORATION KEY TO COMPLIANCE In October, the Gambling Commission revealed
the results of their own interim report into the compliance standards of online casino operators. Of the 123 operators examined, 45 were told to submit an action plan to raise standards, while a further 14 were the subject of enforcement investigations. Five operators and three PMLs surrendered their licenses, with seven operators paying €21m in penalty packages.
advertising away from children, young people and vulnerable adults.
Te report’s recommendations came after a pledge by the Gambling Commission to play their part in raising standards, including addressing concerns around gambling with credit cards and introducing protections for consumers online through potentially mandating changes around VIP schemes and inducements. Te Commission revealed they had received an offer from one major operator to lead the development of a code of conduct on the treatment of VIPs and associated inducements to gamble.
Te Parliamentary report also recommended the treatment of gambling addiction and support for gambling related harm to become part of the NHS’ remit, with a ‘smart statutory levy’ of one per cent introduced to fund research, and for the commissioning of research transferred from GambleAware and the Gambling Commission to independent UK research councils and a public health setting.
CREATING A CULTURE OF SAFER GAMBLING Support for the Safer Gambling Commitments
came on the same day that a new representative body for the UK’s betting and gaming industry
formally launched, which pledged to champion and drive forward these commitments. Te Betting and Gaming Council, representing betting shops, online gaming businesses and casinos, was established in response to calls for the industry to work together to guarantee an enjoyable, fair and safe betting and gaming experience for all.
Te Safer Gambling Commitments were agreed by leading gambling companies, including Aspers, bet365, Caesars, Flutter Entertainment (Paddy Power Betfair), Genting, GVC (Ladbrokes and Coral), Playtech, Rank Group, Sky Betting & Gaming and William Hill. To ensure transparency, the signatories committed to the Safer Gambling Commitments being regularly and publicly reported on, with an independent monitoring and evaluation process consistent with the best practice approach used by other public bodies such as the Gambling Commission.
A YouGov poll of more than 2,000 adults commissioned by the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling found that although 77 per cent of people feel they are aware of tools to help them gamble responsibly, they support a public education campaign to promote safer gambling. One of the first actions announced by
Speaking at the ARQ Conference in Malta, Neil McArthur, Chief Executive of the Gambling Commission, stressed the importance of the relationship between the Gambling Commission and the Malta Gaming Authority, with operators in Malta accounting for around one-eighth of Great Britain’s regulated market. Since the end of 2014, operators have required a remote gambling license from the Gambling Commission if their gambling facilities are being used or are likely to be used in Great Britain, irrespective of whether any equipment is located there. Mr. McArthur encouraged operators to collaborate in order to improve compliance and ensure a level playing field: “We know that the success of many technology companies and digital content creators depends on their ability to establish and maintain the engagement of their consumers on their web and mobile apps.
“We know that this can be done by behavioural techniques which can change behaviour without the consumer’s knowledge and not always in good ways. So, I am challenging you – both mobile and online game designers – to work together to produce an effective Industry Code for Game Design, which can be published no later than next spring’s Raising Standards conference. If such a Code is developed to address the risks, the Commission will move to bring it into LCCP and Technical Standards to ensure a level playing field for all.”
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P43
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