UKGC to close ‘business as usual’ consultation on Friday

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has reminded stakeholders that the consultation on proposed changes to the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) duties and enforcement policies will close on Friday, 15 March 2024.

The UKGC launched the consultation on 15 December 2023, seeking feedback on the transparency of financial penalties and the financial key reporting duties outlined in the LCCP.

The Commission is consulting on two sets of ‘business as usual’ proposed changes: one relates to clarifying and adding transparency to how financial penalties are calculated, and the other concerns financial key event reporting by licensees to ensure the Commission has the appropriate information for risk-based regulation.

The consultations aim to make the process by which enforcement actions, including financial penalties, are calculated more transparent. Penalties would start with a base determined by the severity of the breach and a percentage of the Gross Gambling Yield (GGY) or other proportional revenue generated during the infringement period.

Feedback is essential as the Commission seeks to revise the terms of the Statement of Principles for Determining Financial Penalties (SoPfDFP) to enhance transparency, clarity, and consistency in how penalties are calculated.

Regarding the LCCP’s ‘key event reporting’ duties, the UKGC requires licensees to record pertinent information about ownership, finances, and interest.

The proposed amendments are intended to tackle the issues arising from mergers and acquisitions, as well as the increasing globalization of the gambling sector. The Commission noted, “challenges in meeting the 3% shareholder reporting requirements due to governance arrangements in some jurisdictions have led to the possibility of increasing this threshold to 5%.”

The Consultation on these subjects is maintained separately from the UKGC’s call for feedback on the recommendations of the Gambling Review’s White Paper, which concluded its feedback period on 21 February 2024.