When it comes to gambling, the UK has a great tradition. The first time his area of life was regulated by law was way back in the 16th century. Since then, this country has always been characterized by a quite affirmative approach toward gambling. These days, things aren’t any different, as we are talking about a country that has completely legalized all forms of gambling, including online casinos, land-based casinos, betting shops, lotteries etc.
The British are coming The United Kingdom Gambling Commission (UKGC) is one of the most respected and trustworthy providers of gambling licenses in the world, and the UK’s strict gambling legislation is rigorously enforced by the commission, ensuring that casinos operate within the law, and that players can game in a safe and fair environment. Apply to the Gambling Commission for a personal gambling licence or a gambling operating licence if you run or manage a gambling business. The Gambling Commission regulates arcades, betting, bingo.
Therefore, you may presume that there is a lot of legislation material that regulates this sphere. Moreover, the government has also established the United Kingdom Gambling Commission, which regulates almost complete gambling in the UK.
This commission is responsible for many things. It was founded in order to provide a healthy gambling environment, so it’s responsible for so many things.It is an independent body, which is financed by the Department for Culture, Media and Sport.
Among many activities, the UKGC also issues licenses to prospective businesses, so you may presume that there are all kinds of conditions and requirements that have to be met in order to start a business. This is completely regulated by the Gambling Commission and an important thing to know is that these requirements are constantly changing and updating, in order to provide the best possible protection to vulnerable groups. This particularly refers to online gambling, which develops at rapid speed. Such dynamics require pretty frequent updates, so we can say that the newest version has been published just a couple of weeks ago.
The whole gambling market has been controlled through this licensing system. That’s why the process of getting the license can take a very long time and can be very complicated. Simply, the future operator has to meet all the requirements before it starts with providing gambling services.
These requirements can be divided into two main groups – license conditions and codes of practice.
When it comes to license conditions, there are four main groups. First, there are general license conditions applied by the Gambling Commission, which refer to a certain class of operating licenses. Then, there are individual license conditions, which refer to an individual operator and its activities.
Besides conditions that are applied by the Gambling Commission, there are also two more things that may apply to a class of operating license. The first ones would be amendments of the law, while the second ones would be regulations from the Gambling Act 2005.
Another thing that should be mentioned is that there are different types of licenses. The three main licenses an operator needs to get are operating license (from UKGC), a personal management license (from UKGC), a personal functional license (from UKGC). These licenses cover the following things:
- Arcades
- Betting
- Bingo
- Casino
- Gambling software
- Gaming machines
- Lotteries
Also, local licenses for gambling activities would be required as well, if we are talking about establishments like land-based casinos, pubs, clubs etc.
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If you wonder about the costs of getting a license, it’s very hard to tell the exact sum, as it may vary from case to case. On the other side, there are many agencies that advertise consultant assist, which covers not only licenses administration and application but also things like a business plan, financial prognosis, system documentation etc. This whole package goes around 20-25.000 pounds, roughly.
Speaking of costs, another thing we should mention is maintaining the UK gambling license. This is paid on a yearly basis and depends on several factors, such as annual gross receipts, the type of establishment, the number of establishments, and so on.When it comes to online casinos, it mostly depends on yearly income. If the income goes between 500.000 and 5 Million British Pounds, yearly costs would go around £7200.
The Malta based online casino operator Genesis Global Limited, who own and operate online casinos including Casino Cruise and Vegas Hero, have had their UK Gambling Commission licence suspended by the UK regulator.
In a statement on the UKGC site published yesterday ( 20th July 2020 ), the Gambling Commission state that Genesis Global Limited have had their licence suspended after performing a review under section 118 of the Gambling Act 2005.
Subsequently the licence suspension is effective immediately and it means that it is now illegal for Genesis Global Limited to offer gambling services to players residing in the UK. Furthermore a an email communication was sent out to all the affiliate partners of Genesis Affiliates – Genesis Global Limited’s affiliate marketing arm. It reads:
“Dear Affiliate,
Unfortunately, we have just been informed that our UKGC licence is being temporarily suspended.
We would like to share more in detail the reasons behind this decision but unfortunately, we have not yet been informed, as can be noted from their public statement.
Genesis will be working extremely closely with the UKGC to resolve this matter as soon as possible.
Until then, all UK players will be informed via on and off-site communications which include a pop-up notification and email.
Rest assured that we will do everything in our power to resolve this issue, but should you have any further questions please do not hesitate to contact your affiliate manager.
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We, therefore, ask you to remove our brands from your website until this matter is sorted.
We would like to confirm that this ONLY applies to the UK market and we will continue business as usual for other markets.”
For full details of the UK Gambling Commission’s decision regarding the suspension of Gensis Global Limited’s “Operating Licence No 000-045235-R-324169-010 Combined Remote Operating Licence”, please click here.