UK

HMRC has accepted a policy proposal that will expand the tax bands on gross gaming yield (GGY) applied to land-based casino earnings.  New tax bands will be applied from 1 April 2022, as HMRC aims to maintain casino operator duties at real levels of inflation. Applied since 1997 and last amended during 2021, HMRC currently applies a staggered 15-to-50% tax …

A football player for York City FC of the National League North has been suspended for one month by the Football Association (FA) for placing a number of bets on his own sport. Joshua King placed 139 bets across two seasons, with 94 placed across the 2020/21 campaign, of which 13 were in connection with either a match or competition …

HooYu, the specialists in KYC and customer onboarding journey specialist, has confirmed the strengthening of its offering with a ‘re-usable digital ID to instantly complete age or identity verification processes’. It’s a move that seeks to help firms in their bid to grow with the digital evolution and retain a stringent verification process. The new service, called HooYu ID, gives consumers …

The Howard League has called for an overhaul in how the UK’s Criminal Justice System (CJS) addresses ‘crimes linked to problem gambling’. The headline remark was made by the League’s ‘Commission on Crime and Problem Gambling’ – a research unit led by Lord Goldsmith QC, that has examined links between problem gambling and crimes committed during the past two-years.  Publishing …

The All-Party Parliamentary Betting & Gaming Group (APBGG) has extended its inquiry, examining the competencies of the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) as the regulatory body of British gambling.  The decision follows significant evidence submitted to the group, outlining the seriousness of alleged failings by the UKGC governing the gambling sector. The APBGG launched its inquiry following industry concerns that the …

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) has pledged that its membership will ‘keep the momentum’ on continuing to reduce problem gambling rates, following the positive results of 2021 gambling prevalence data published by the UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) Feedback of a quarterly telephone survey, conducted by Yonder Consulting, a nationally representative sample of 4,005 participants – aged 16 and over …

DraftKings has confirmed that it will not pursue a takeover of UK betting and gaming group Entain, putting an end to over a month of speculation and negotiation surrounding the potential merger. Despite this confirmation, DraftKings retains the right to disregard its statement should it come to further agreement with the board of Entain, if a third party makes a …

The Racing Post and Sports Information Services (SIS) have announced the eight winners of ‘The Betting Shop Champions Awards’.  The one-off awards were launched by Racing Post and SIS this summer to recognise the momentous efforts of individuals working in betting’s frontline during the sector’s most challenging work period. Betting Shop Champions were selected from 25 nominations by a judging …

The Betting and Gaming Council (BGC) requires a new Director of Communications, following the departure of Kevin Schofield as the trade body’s media and public-relations lead.     A 25-year politics journalist, Schofield had joined the BGC at the beginning of 2020, as the trade body began its mandate to become ‘the single representative voice’ of the UK gambling sector taking over …

Following a survey by Ipsos Mori, GamCare has maintained confidence in its collaboration  and ‘common shared vision’ with Gamban and GAMSTOP revolving around the TalkBanStop initiative. According to Ipsos Mori’s research, people who have made use of all three layers of the provided support have gambled less and as a result experienced a reduction in gambling-related harms, in particular with …