Adopting Strong Compliance in the Growing Gambling Market
The size of the online global gambling market (including online gaming, arcade games, lottery, scratch cards) is set to double by 2024. The current size of the market is almost 46 billion US dollars, by 2024 it is anticipated to be valued at more than 94 billion US dollars.
There is no single piece of legislation that covers the legality of global internet gambling. Legal and regulatory disputes are dealt with mostly by countries own local law. These laws vary largely from one region to the next, many regions make regular changes to their legislation as well.
In the UK, the Gambling Commission has stepped up its monitoring and investigation of compliance failings included but not limited to Anti-Money Laundering (AML), underage users, unfair terms, and breaches of Advertising Standards. Lack of compliance will result in operator licenses being withdrawn, high financial penalties and the banning of irresponsible individuals operating in this sector.
The Gambling Commission reported they carried out more than 160 investigations in the 2018/2019 financial year and imposed a variety of sanctions on operators. Betting companies in the UK paid out £19.6 million in penalties over the course of the year, for failing to protect problem gamblers and the stopping of money launderers.
Though the gambling and gaming market is a very attractive growth market, it is essential that operators pay close attention and comply to the rules and regulations.
There are three principles that operators need to cover under Gambling compliance:
- Keep crime out of gambling.
- Conduct operations in a fair and open way.
- Protect children and vulnerable individuals from being harmed or exploited by gambling.
The Gambling Commission has set out clear advice and guidance on how to comply with the law and license conditions and codes of practice. Covering social responsibility, AML, technical standards, complaints handling and Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), and sector specific compliance. But having a strong compliance culture is more than just complying to law and license conditions, the following should also be in place:
- Compliance requirements to be set and constantly monitored and updated in line with regulatory changes and business changes.
- Regular internal audits and assessments of processes to monitor performance and efficiency of systems and processes.
- Senior Management to set a customer centric culture by accentuating social responsibility, that aligns with long term financial viability and growth of the organisation.
- Roles and responsibilities need to be defined, where employees having clear understanding of their accountabilities.
- Each department and individual have a role in initiating and maintaining social responsibility and AML practices.
- Revenue generating teams’ form part of the compliance structure, to form first line of defense against compliance risk.
- Thorough training of staff as teams grow or staff change. In addition to refresher training for established staff.
If you are currently operating in this market or you are looking to enter, you will need to ensure that your business is complying. Danos Consulting is here to support you, we can help ensure that you understand the legislation and that you have the right processes in place. We can support you with:
- Review of local and country specific guidelines and requirements.
- Gap analysis of current Social Responsibility and AML systems, processes and procedures.
- Adherence to regulatory change including the Fifth Money Laundering Directive.
- Gap analysis of current organisational systems, process and procedures.
- Delivery of training.
- Project management of implementations.
Danos Consulting is a leading supplier of Compliance and Risk personnel globally. With an unparalleled talent network including consultants based in Malta, Gibraltar and Cyprus, we provide experienced, first class practitioners at affordable costs on an international scale. We have a bench of over 800 Compliance, Risk and Legal Consultants, which we use to resource projects.
Danos Consulting can offer a range of solutions tailored to your personal needs. If you would like more information or have any questions, please contact us.
Katherine Lord
Associate Partner, Head of Danos Consulting
Tel: + 44 (0) 207 010 1153
Email: klord@danosconsulting.com
Source: Market value of online gambling worldwide 2017 and 2024. Published by S. Lock, Sep 23, 2019.
Source: Gambling Commission – How to comply to your licence.
