Britain’s government Department for Culture, Media and Sport is widely expected, after a period of lengthy review, to announce new proposals to upgrade and bolster existing regulations pertaining to offshore online gambling companies. The recent review, which was commissioned to examine the ways and methods in which foreign offshore operators could be held more accountable to the regulatory system in the UK, looked into such areas as the ability to ensure fair contributions from foreign licensed operators towards the cost of regulations.
The report and review was hastened by growing concerns regarding the spreading and extent of match-fixing throughout a number of different sports and has also recommended that more information should be provided by offshore gambling operators regarding any suspicious betting patterns that emerge when events take place.
The Department for Culture, Media and Sport and well as the UK Gambling Commission collaborated on the report with the eventual aim of establishing a “secondary licensing” scheme in the UK. The scheme is not expected to compel foreign operators to pay the current statutory horse racing levy.
Gerry Sutcliffe, Britain’s Sports Minister, assured horse racing operators that the debate regarding the future of the tax on online gambling operators will continue, and Mr. Sutcliffe commented that his principal aim for the review was “to ensure a fairer deal for UK operators.” The government’s proposals have, however, caused a certain amount of disquiet within the gambling industry, with both William Hill and Ladbrokes moving their operations offshore are concessions were granted to the industry.
The development is thought to have coast the horse racing industry more than £4 million, with overall revenue from tax on bookmakers’ gross profits down by 20% in 2009 as compared to 2008′s figure. Within the new framework being mooted by the government offshore bookmakers would also be required to be licensed in the UK, and those refusing to comply would be unable to advertise in the UK. The CEO of the Remote Gambling Association, Clive Hawkswood, stated that the major online gambling operators represented by his organization would be willing to discuss the dual-licensing approach suggested by the UK government, although he cited tax as a potential major stumbling block.
