Analysis: UK regulation, it is a question of timing
The UK Gambling Bill was passed into law last month, but there are still question marks over when exactly things are going to change
With the egaming industry currently consumed by 64 football matches taking place in Brazil, thoughts have been seemingly been diverted from the revolution due to take place within the UK-facing market.
All has gone quiet since the UK Gambling (Advertising and Licensing) Bill was granted Royal Assent on 15 May. But the Bill, which will introduce legislation on a point of consumption basis, still has a number of question marks beside it.
One of the main unknowns is when the Bill will come into effect. During the legislative process, the UK regulator’s official line has been that the licensing window would open two months from the Bill being passed into law “ which would equate to a mid-July start date.
And although this still remains an objective for the UK Gambling Commission, its chief executive Jenny Williams told eGaming Review she “can’t be certain” when the opening of the licensing window will take place, as it waits for the Department for Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) to confirm the statutory instrument.
Early indications suggested this necessary instrument would be confirmed “two days” after Royal Assent, however, a DCMS spokesperson told eGR a date had yet to be set and it now appears to be a race against time as to whether it will be delivered ahead of the six-week parliamentary summer recess, which begins on 22 July.
“The DCMS appears to be leaving it quite late if the Gambling Commission hopes to stick to its original timetable of inviting transitional licensing applications in mid-July,” Audrey Ferrie, gaming lawyer and legal director at Pinsent Masons, says.
Failure to meet this timetable would likely see the licensing process delayed at least until September, which would mean a regulatory go-live date of November at the earliest, shortly before the 15% profit tax is due to come into effect on 1 December.
And the Bill will almost certainly have to fend off a legal challenge from the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association (GBGA) in the coming weeks and months, with its 20-plus members arguing the new regulatory framework is both flawed and disproportionate.
eGR understands the GBGA will file for a judicial review of the Bill (not the tax) in the coming weeks and has been holding regular meetings with members such as William Hill, Ladbrokes, Gala Coral and 888 as it attempts to finalise its case.
Although many believe the courts will eventually side with the government, the case could cause further delays to the implementation of a framework which had originally been pencilled in for a pre-World Cup start date.
And perhaps operators will take some comfort from the significant delays of the planned introduction of minimum alcohol pricing in Scotland that were caused by a judicial review.
The Alcohol (Minimum Pricing) (Scotland) Act 2012 received Royal Assent in June 2012 and was intended to come into force in April 2013, however, following a challenge from the Scottish Whisky Association, the Bill has yet to come into effect as it waits for a decision to be made by the Court of Justice of the EU regarding its legality.
Whatever the outcome of the PoC legal battle, operators have been advised to prepare for the worst case scenario and be ready for a switch to a PoC model “ however, exactly when we can expect that switch to occur still remains firmly up in the air.