Bookies set to insert betting terms into trader contracts
Gambling Commission looks to protect licensing objectives by ensuring traders don't use commercial intelligence to place bets
Great Britain’s Gambling Commission has asked bookmakers to amend their employment terms and conditions so that traders can no longer use “commercial intelligence” for their own personal gain.
Last month the Commission wrote to various industry bodies, including the Remote Gaming Association (RGA) and the Association of British Bookmakers (ABB), to suggest that employee conditions are reviewed in order to reduce the threat of future betting coups.
Speaking to eGaming Review this morning, RGA chief executive Clive Hawkswood said he “appreciated the concern” raised and would be discussing the issue with the Commission in the future.
The topic came to light after an operator contacted the Commission to ask whether it had the right to void bets placed by a customer on an emerging horse racing betting coup. The customer in question worked for another operator and it was alleged they would have been aware of the coup.
Following an investigation, the Commission said the case to void the bets for cheating or fraudulent activity was “extremely weak”, however, it noted “a number of points of vulnerability” to licensing objectives and operators’ commercial interests.
As a result, the Commission has suggested bookies adhere to a 2010 Parry report recommendation which requests operators “vary betting terms and conditions to make the contravention of sports or other professional or employer rules on betting a breach of the operator’s own [betting] terms and conditions”.
In addition, the Commission itself suggests operators ensure “effective employment terms and conditions are in place that require traders to act first and foremost in the interests of the employer and, as far as possible, seek to prevent cases similar to this one arising in the future”.
The Commission noted that traders “have a deep interest in betting” and therefore would not be want to remove the ability of them placing bets with rival operators.
The ABB responded to the Commission last week to confirm the Parry recommendation had been implemented across its membership and requested that the Commission provided an example of how operators could improve their employer terms and conditions.
The RGA was also open to the suggestions but said “a helpful first step might be to see an example of the kind of contractual terms they [the Commission] have in mind so that we can at least seek a degree of consistency”.