Regulation round-up 11 March 2014
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (5 March to 11 March 2014)
UK regulator reaches payment blocking arrangement
Visa Europe, MasterCard and PayPal have voluntarily agreed to block transactions involving unlicensed operators
The UK Gambling Commission has reached a voluntary arrangement with a trio of major credit and financial services providers that will see the blocking of most credit card transactions involving unlicensed UK operators.
The agreement, which involves Visa Europe, MasterCard and PayPal, was revealed during a report reading of the Gambling Bill in the House of Lords, a session which saw a vote on the statutory blocking of transactions narrowly defeated.
During the debate, Baroness Howe, a supporter of transaction blocking for illegal sites, revealed that the Lords had been in receipt of a letter confirming the voluntary agreement.
According to the Baroness, the letter stated “the Gambling Commission has reached agreement with a number of major payment systems organisations to work together to block financial transactions with unlicensed operators”.
Revised draft of Netherlands egaming bill submitted
Operators with an eye on the Dutch egaming market got their first look at the country’s latest egaming bill today after a revised draft was submitted to the European Commission.
The bill, an early version of which was unveiled almost a year ago, details the government’s licensing framework which it intends to launch in early 2015.
While the vast majority of the proposals remain the same, today’s update states that operators will no longer have to base their servers in the Netherlands and highlights a number of potential charitable obligations.
Seven days in regulation:
Paddys to remove Pistorius ads after record complaints
Paddy Power has been ordered to immediately remove all UK advertisements relating to betting on the murder trial of Paralympian Oscar Pistorius after they attracted an “unprecedented” number of complaints.
The warning came from the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority (ASA), which has also fast-tracked an investigation into the advertising campaign in order to conclude whether the ads trivialised murder and brought advertising into disrepute.
The move represented an “unusual step” for the ASA which usually waits until an investigation has been concluded before decided upon whether an advert should be withdrawn or not.
DCMS dismisses “exaggerated” gambling ad restriction claims
The UK Department for Culture, Media and Sport has poured cold water over newspaper reports that a review into gambling adverts could see the industry hit with similar restrictions to those applied to the advertising of cigarettes.
The Daily Mirror this morning reported that a source close to culture secretary Maria Miller, who yesterday ordered a review of TV gambling advertising, believes ministers are in “the same kind of space” the Labour government was when it clamped down on the advertisement of cigarettes in a bid to combat the health effects of smoking.
Adverts for tobacco products began to be phased out in 2002, with tobacco companies now facing highly restrictive marketing and packaging guidelines.
Comment: UK’s gambling advertising debate is a mess
Despite the enormous amount of blood and treasure spent on social responsibility “ and notwithstanding the consistently flat problem gambling numbers in the prevalence surveys “ the industry is at present losing the public argument in the UK.
Let us be clear that even one instance of problem gambling is too much, and that the prevalence statistics “ favourable to the industry though they may be “ should never be allowed to obscure the genuine human difficulties that irresponsible gambling can cause.
But, as a senior gambling regulator recently remarked to me, there are plenty of things in society that can give rise to unwise human behaviour “ pornography, misconceptions of body image, HFSS foods, alcohol, social networks and so on. Humans can abuse almost anything you choose to give them and gambling is no different.
Remote operators face £20m UK horse racing levy
Offshore remote gambling operators could be hit with a £20m levy on their UK horse racing profits after the Government signalled it would use the final reading of the Gambling Bill to “level the playing field”.
At present, only UK land-based bookies are subject to pay around 10% of gross profits from racing bets to the Horserace Betting Levy Board (HBLB), which then distributes the cash to support the industry. Levy rates are subject to change from year to year.
However, following increased pressure from both members of Parliament and the House of Lords, it is expected that the levy will be extended to include offshore remote operators, a move which could generate as much as £20m for the sport.