Pinnacle to close GB-facing business

Pinnacle Sports has become the latest offshore operator to announce it will be withdrawing from the British market due to the forthcoming implementation of a Point of Consumption licensing regime.

In a statement to customers yesterday, the Asia-facing operator said it would be closing all accounts belonging to customers registered in Great Britain on 30 September ““ the day before the new licensing framework is due to go live.

“Due to imminent changes to British gambling licensing regulations, Pinnacle Sports will after September 30th, 2014, be unable to offer our services to any players resident in Great Britain,” a statement from the firm read.

“We thank all British players for betting with Pinnacle Sports, and should we obtain a British gambling licence in the future, we would be more than happy to accept your business.”

According to the Gambling Commission website, Pinnacle has made an application for an operating licence, however, due to the operator’s current Curacao-licensed status, it has been unable to apply for the transitional licences available to white-listed licensed operators.

The announcement from Pinnacle comes after a number of other offshore operators decided to withdraw some or all of their products from the British market.

SBObet, 12Bet and Mansion last week revealed they were to scale back operations in the country while earlier this week 32Red completed a deal to buy Go Wild’s British customer database after the casino decided to withdraw from the market.

The news comes as Isle of Man-licensed Locus Gaming flagship brand Jack Gold Casino was forced to halt operations yesterday after a planned sale of the business fell through at a late stage.

Speaking to eGaming Review this morning, chief executive Ed Andrewes said the company was now exploring other avenues of funding and hoped to be able to provide an update on the situation next week.

Andrewes also said customer funds had been ring-fenced and were available for immediate withdrawal.