GB regulator receives 161 continuation applications
Operators prepare for start of new licensing regime while others continue to ponder market feasibility
Great Britain’s Gambling Commission received 161 applications for continuation licences by the close of the licensing window on midnight Tuesday despite a number of operators continuing to weigh-up their future in the re-regulating market.
Operators licensed in white-listed jurisdictions were encouraged to apply for a permit which would enable them to trade unaffected up until their full operating licence applications have been determined.
The total number of applications submitted was more than the 150 the regulator had originally anticipated back in June, with the figure boosted by a late flurry of last day activity.
Should a number of non-white-listed operators receive their full operating licences by 1 October, more than the 161 could be live on the first day of the new regime.
All those without either a transitional licence of whose full licence applications have yet to be determined by 1 October will no longer be able to trade legally in the market up until the point they are in receipt of their permit.
However, even at this late stage, not all operators have fully committed to the newly regulated market, with the recent two-month delay to the supplier licensing requirement thought to have been as a result of operator pressure.
According to Wiggin gaming lawyer Jason Chess, the regulator decided to postpone the requirement that operators should only use GB-licensed suppliers until 31 March in order to give firms additional time to decide upon their future.
“This [the delay] is ostensibly to enable businesses to decide whether to remain in the British market or not,” Chess said.
“Wiggin’s view is more that the original proposal caused so much confusion and difficulty in the context of today’s complex software supply chains that extra time is needed to sort things out,” he added.
Betsson is one firm which has yet to make this call. Speaking to eGaming Review, Betsson AB chief executive Magnus Silfverberg said the operator had yet to decide on its long-term future in the British market, despite having already submitted its licence application.
“Since we still don’t know the detailed requirements we did it [apply for a licence] mainly to keep our options open, and we will see during the autumn whether to use it or not,” Silfverberg said.
A number of operators including Pinnacle Sports, Winamax, and SBObet recently revealed they were to withdraw from the market while 32Red completed a deal to buy Go Wild’s British customer database after the casino decided not to apply for a GB licence.