The purpose of the National Strategic and the Compliance and Enforcement Report is to assess licensee holders and raise the standards.
The UK Gambling Commission released its first National Strategic Assessment. The document uses a wide range of sources and case studies to asses the current risks in the gambling area.
We will use our National Strategic Assessment as the foundation for prioritizing our work over the coming months and years.
Neil McArthur, Commission Chief Executive
The document was published alongside the annual Compliance and Enforcement Report. The report covers the period 2019-2020 and evaluates the industry and the license holders.
The purpose of the National Strategic Assessment and the Compliance and Enforcement Report is to assess the work of licensee holders and raise the standards. The aim is to minimize gambling-related harm, to treat customers properly and fairly, and overall to make gambling safer.
The Gambling Commission indicated the main points of improvement for the operators.
Main Pain Points
Among the main issues are the affordability checks, and were covered in the previous GC report. However, there are cases where the operators don’t perform the necessary checks. This means that they allowed individuals to continue gambling despite clear signs of harm.
The Commission cited cases of a customer who deposited and lost £187,000 in two days despite no regular source of income. Another customer lost £18,000 over a year, despite telling staff she lost all her savings.
The idea of the affordability checks is to asses the level of spending of the player according to his/her income. The issue is especially sensitive during the time of lockdown when a lot of people lost part of their income. It also caused a rise in the mental health deterioration, which is a precondition for excessive gambling.
Another point the GC covered in the report is the anti-money laundering process. According to the UK Gambling Commission, there is still room for improvement on that point. This applies also to illegal gambling. GC reminded operators that they bear the responsibility for their white label partners and should perform thorough due diligence checks on them.
