UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) CEO Andrew Rhodes has issued a defiant warning to operators working alongside B2B partners.
Speaking at the regulator’s CEO briefing, he said the commission will “not accept any excuses” for operators working with providers that also service the unregulated market.
“I [have] very deliberately urged everybody who has any B2B partners who might be supplying them with games or software, to make sure you do your due diligence as to where they’re doing business,” he said.
Rhodes cited the significant enforcement action undertaken in recent weeks to highlight the reach of the UKGC
In October, Platinum Gaming Limited, operator of unibet.co.uk and uk.bingo.com, was handed a £10m penalty for social responsibility and anti-money laundering failings. In the same month, NetBet agreed to a settlement of £650,000 and to undertake an independent audit for similar failings.
In total, nine suspensions have been handed out in recent weeks by the UKGC, and this is just the beginning, according to Rhodes.
“There will be no more warnings for those actors. We will not accept any excuses,” he said. “You should, as a sector, expect to see more enforcement action in the coming weeks and months. We’ve been working on this area very actively, and we don’t intend to stop.”
UK Gov can’t ignore looming crypto future
Also on the agenda for Rhodes was crypto, as he laid out the need for the government to address the “pressure building within the system” as a new demographic embraces cryptocurrencies.
“The reality is, in some years to come, there will probably be a significant cohort of consumers who use cryptocurrencies because that is what they’re accustomed to. It is a demographic shift that will find they have no place in the legitimate industry because of the currency they use,” stated Rhodes.
“Growth in those demographics means [that] I don’t think governments can ignore that pattern.”
The UK Government has already set out a ‘Plan For Change’ which seeks to develop the UK as a thriving environment for cryptocurrency, and the Financial Conduct Authority has begun to draft legislation to regulate cryptoassets.
Although Rhodes was keen to stress that the UKGC is not committing to start licensing crypto within the UK’s gambling ecosystem, it appears that it will not be long before the regulator will be forced to consider how the UK’s crypto laws will fit into the gambling regulatory framework.