Drastic changes afoot for UK gambling laws

Eric Bianchi
July 14, 2011
6 Comments

uk gambling changesAlterations to the UK’s gambling laws have been tabled that will see drastic changes to the way bookmakers operate. The exact details are not yet know but John Penrose, Minister for Tourism and Heritage for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport announced the plans to parliament yesterday evening. The changes will have a huge impact on anyone operating out of another jurisdiction and thus not holding a UK Gambling Commission license.

Penrose said, “We are intending to move as fast as we can towards a system which will fix the problem of offshore betting. We plan to move to a system which will switch away from the current organisation which has driven many bookmakers offshore.”

The new plans have been prompted by both the events that took place on Black Friday and the fact that a new funding system for racing has been yearned after for some time. In respect of the racing industry, there will be a new system that requires a license fee to be paid by any firm taking bets on racing. This extends to all gaming activities and will be paid by all firms based outside of the UK.

Penrose added, “Anybody based anywhere in the world who wants to sell gambling services to any consumer based in the U.K. will, in future, have to have a Gambling Commission license.”

Matthew Hancock MP called yesterday’s debate after the Conservative MP had become concerned at the drop in betting duty that had been collected by the UK. After the debate, he said, “The government has announced it’s bringing the gambling industry onshore. Where the person is putting the bet on is what will matter, not where the company is based.”

Companies without a clear and coherent plan will be caught out by this new regime and as we’ve pointed out already there could be a lot of after effects from whatever is decided.

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