UK Government Plans Stricter Gambling Rules - 01-09-10

January 9 - The UK Department of Culture, Media and Sport released its report on gambling in the country and proposed a number of changes to the current landscape.

The most significant proposal stated by the government was the introduction of stricter licensing requirements for overseas gambling firms who currently provide their services to UK gamblers.

The new proposals have already hit the shares of groups such as William Hill Plc and Ladbrokes Plc who relocated to Gibraltar to avoid the UK's tax regime, yet still rely mainly on UK consumers.

The report also called for online operators to share any information about suspicious betting patterns with governing bodies in the sports betting industry.

This move came amid growing concerns about corruption in the sports world.

It should be noted that the majority of top online operators already share all suspicious pattern information with the authorities voluntarily, however the government would require that all operators have an active system on their applicant sites.

Offshore groups may also need to make contributions to research and treatment for problem gamblers in the UK, which is already expected from UK based operators.

Finally, the report said that online operators may be expected to to contribute to the Horserace Betting Levy in the UK, just as their UK counterparts are doing.

"The new system will ensure that all businesses offering online gambling to our consumers adhere to our rules, not someone else's," said Gerry Sutcliffe, UK Minister of Sport."

Submit This Article To Your Social Network
Furl	Simpy	Y! MyWeb	OnlyWire
Del.icio.us	Digg	Google	Spurl
StumbleUpon	Redit	Technocrati