UKGC: We will be “unrelenting” against operators that fail to meet standards

UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) director of policy Ian Angus has said the regulator will continue to take “unrelenting action” against operators who fail to meet standards.

Delivering a keynote speech at the Westminster Media Forum, Angus took the opportunity to further warn against errant operators following a slew of major penalties and settlements in recent months.

William Hill agreed to pay a record £19.2m for historic failings at the end of March, while Kindred Group was hit with a £7.1m fine relating to its 32Red and Unibet brands.

Since the start of 2022, the UKGC has concluded 27 enforcement cases, with operators paying over £76m in penalties due to regulatory failures.

Angus emphasised this volume of settlements should act as a warning signal to firms.

He said: “Where we find operators failing to meet our standards we will continue to take unrelenting action. We think the action we are taking makes clear what our expectations are.

“And at the volume we’re now broadcasting them, we are pretty sure those operators who were still deaf to them a year or two ago, are now getting the message.”

However, the director of policy did say the regulator would look to work with the industry and touched on the recent criticism the body has faced, namely, the concerns raised over UKGC’s lack of guidance and/or concrete details around subjects such as spending limits and rate of play.

Angus continued: “Driving up the standards of gambling operators through our compliance and enforcement work is an important focus and will remain so.

“But we also want to work with the industry to improve protections for consumers as well as improving the evidence base and our regulation in general.

“While we have previously been criticised for our efforts to be collaborative, we are clear that working together can lead to more progress, more quickly. And the results bear that out,” he added.

Angus gave further details on the upcoming single customer view (SCV) project that will see operators share data with one another to better protect against gambling-related harms.

Angus said the new system was a core component of the regulator’s policy of “putting people first”.

He continued: “We also challenged the industry to work with the tech sector and the Information Commissioner’s Office to develop a lawful, viable and effective single customer view solution to mitigate the risk of serious gambling harms.

“The Betting and Gaming Council has led on that piece of work and will soon trial the first phase of GamProtect, its multi-operator risk-sharing solution. We look forward to the trial going live and the subsequent evaluation and development of the model,” the director concluded.