Tag: Compliance Updates

NEW rules ensuring online gambling businesses do more to identify and take action to protect consumers at risk of harm have been introduced by the Gambling Commission.

The new rules, which come into effect on 12 September 2022, are stronger and more prescriptive, requiring operators to:

• monitor a specific range of indicators¹, as a minimum, to identify gambling harm
• flag indicators of harm and take action in a timely manner
• implement automated processes for strong indicators of harm
• prevent marketing and the take-up of new bonuses for at risk customers
• evaluate their interactions and ensure they interact with consumers at least at the level of problem gambling for the relevant activity
• evidence their customer interaction evaluation to the Gambling Commission during routine casework
• comply with these requirements at all times, this includes ensuring the compliance of third-party providers.

New guidance, which operators are required to take account of, will be issued in June to help them understand and comply with the requirements. We will engage with operators to enable the guidance to take account of queries we receive about the requirements following publication.

Gambling Commission Chief Executive, Andrew Rhodes, said: “Time and time again our enforcement cases show that some operators are still not doing enough to prevent gambling harm. These new rules, developed following an extensive consultation, make our expectations even more explicit.

“We expect operators to identify and tackle gambling harms with fast, proportionate and effective action and we will not hesitate to take tough action on operators who fail to do so.”

The strengthened requirements follow a consultation which was launched to address failings the Commission continued to see among online gambling operators. Although capable of identifying customers who may be harmed by gambling, operators were not always doing so or acting quickly enough. The Commission received approximately 13,000 responses to the consultation and call for evidence. All responses to the proposals were carefully considered to ensure proportionate, robust changes were made.

In the next phase of our programme of work to make online gambling fairer and safer, the Commission will proceed as planned and consult further on identifying customers who are financially vulnerable and tackling significant unaffordable gambling. Further updates will be provided when the consultation launches.

We will continue to work closely with DCMS and take account of the Government’s Gambling Act Review. Our broader programmes of work, focused on identifying customers at risk of harm will also continue, including close engagement with the BGC and ICO on the ‘single customer view’ pilot.

SoftConstruct (Malta) Limited is pleased to announce the successful registration of Crash and Farkle with the UKGC.

BetConstruct has taken another major step and expanded its gaming catalogue for UK partners, including operators VBET and other UK White Labels.

SoftConstruct (Malta) Limited has registered two games of BetConstruct’s Gaming Suite with the UKGC. The fast-paced Crash and well-known dice game Farkle are aimed to deliver engaging and non-stop gaming experience for the players and quick revenue growth for operators.

All in all, these two products are now available to the UK licensed operators and the ability to offer them serves as a gateway to business expansion for BetConstruct’s UK partners.

In addition, registering these games with the UK Gambling Commission is a great opportunity for BetConstruct to strengthen existing partnerships and skillfully attract new ones.

Bacta has updated its training programmes around compliance, social responsibility and anti-money laundering procedures for its members and operators across the UK.

The trade association’s training examines the requirements of the Gambling Act 2005, Licensing Conditions and Codes of practice and licensing objectives.

Amongst other things, the training looks at Local Authority Inspections, required signage, premises logs and machine categories etc, in addition to a more detailed review of the legislation and rules associated with the protection of Children and other vulnerable people in and around a gambling environment.

Separately, bacta also goes through the latest anti-money laundering procedures, including potential ‘red flags’ and know-your-customer procedures for members.

In addition, bacta’s Social Responsibility or safer gambling training is aimed at providing staff with the necessary knowledge, tools, and confidence to enable them to interact in a meaningful way, with customers who appear to be at risk of gambling related harm.

Bacta also provides an in-depth view of the recording, review and monitoring of customer interactions within your establishment.

Bacta typically delivers Compliance and Social Responsibility training in one either morning or afternoon session. The training takes from up to four hours to deliver, depending on the number of participants and time available.

All participants undertaking the course will receive a bacta training certificate.

Russell Edge, Membership, Social Responsibility and Compliance Manager at bacta, said: “It is important that our members are kept up-to-date with the latest procedures and processes regarding compliance, safety and anti-money laundering. I am pleased to see that the bacta team has progressed its training offering and are continuing to roll-out this important information to operators across the UK.”