GBGA to launch legal challenge against UK gambling law

The GBGA have taken legal action against the British government.

The Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association (GBGA) has filed a legal challenge against the introduction of a new gambling licence law in Britain.

The GBGA represents gambling companies that have based their online businesses in offshore centres.

The Group have described the pending Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act as “unlawful”.

The legislation requires overseas operators offering gambling services to consumers in the UK to hold a UK Gambling Commission licence, rather than being governed by the regulatory regimes of countries in which they are based as they are now. 

In a statement released on Wednesday, the organisation accused the regime of being unlawful, since “it is an illegitimate, disproportionate and discriminatory interference with the right to free movement of services guaranteed by Article 56 TFEU, and is irrational”.

UK regulators have argued that the intent of the new law is to protect consumers, but the GBGA say that the opposite will happen, and that the legislation will actually cause harm to people.

In its submission to the High Court of England and Wales, the GBGA state: “The absence of effective supervision and enforcement, coupled with the burdensome regulatory requirements, will encourage the growth of and migration to unregulated or poorly regulated operators which will present genuine risks to the British consumer.

“When introducing the new licensing regime, the defendants rejected the option of a ‘passporting’ regime.

“This would have been both less onerous to legitimate operators and more effective in protecting consumers, since it would have been based on effective supervision and cooperation between the Gambling Commission and overseas regulators.”

The GBGA has accused regulators of designing the new regulation for economic reasons, rather than in the interest of consumers. They also claim it is to give UK operators a competitive advantage over those from overseas.

The new Act is scheduled to come into force on October 1.

Earlier this year, the GBGA wrote to the UK government and the Gambling Commission to declare its intention to challenge the new Act, and thus last week’s move was not surprising.

Peter Howitt, chief executive of the GBGA, said: “It is extremely disappointing that our concerns have not been listened to by the UK Government, and that the Gambling Commission’s plans to expand its remit have been accepted.

“The only beneficiaries of this change are the UK domestic industry and the Gambling Commission itself, which has persuaded the UK Government that it should be the global regulator of this high-tech and complex industry.

“It has neither the resources, the legal powers, nor the skills to operate successfully across the globe.

“This is bad news for consumers, and for international competition. We have an effective and knowledgeable regulator in Gibraltar.

“That the Gambling Commission believes it is better placed to regulate the industry here is laughable. We are determined to fight against measures that actually undermine consumer protection.”

Speaking to Accountancy Live, a spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said:  ‘We can confirm that we have been served with a legal claim from the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association. We will be responding in due course and continue to prepare for the act coming into force on October 1.’