William Hill’s record fine from the UK’s Gambling Commission brings the spotlight back on the much-awaited industry White Paper.
The company, which was acquired by 888 Holdings last year, will have to fork out £19.2mln in fines.
Today’s news marks the second pocket-busting fine dished out by the Gambling Commission which is beginning to show its claws and clamp down on betting firms.
Last week, 32Red and Platinum Gaming, both of Kindred Group, were fined £7.1mln for similar misdemeanours regarding failures to protect customers and anti-money laundering rules.
The recent flurry of fines brings into the limelight once again the UK’s much-delayed Gambling White Paper, which is finally expected to be released this Easter.
The White Paper
Commissioned in April 2020, the White Paper, which is intended to be a review of the Gambling Act 2005, has been pushed back consistently, much to the despair of campaigners such as Gambling with Lives.
The White Paper is expected to recommend several measures to impose on operators, such as 888 Holdings and FTSE 100 Entain.
Measures being touted in the media include a limit on online slot machines of between £2 and £5, moving it in line with limits on physical machines seen in pubs and high street gambling shops.
A statutory levy on operators to fund addiction research is said to be suggested. At 1%, the levy would replace the current voluntary contributions made by firms.
The White Paper is also said to include affordability checks for customers losing between £500 and £100 a month, at which point they would be required to provide bank statements.
This, however, has been met with resistance by operators and less extreme members of parliament, with fears serious gamblers could seek black market options while casual gamblers would simply no longer bother, a blow to the industry either way.
Another area which has fallen under the government's remit is betting sponsorships in football.
An agreement is thought to be in the pipeline to ban gambling sponsors on shirts of Premier League clubs, although questions remain on whether adverts can stay in place on the LED advertising hoardings.
Iain Duncan Smith, who is vice-chair of the all-party parliamentary group on gambling-related harm, said the White Paper is "desperately" needed.
The former Conservative leader told BBC Radio 4's World At One programme: "The fine is a good idea and I am pleased, but it does beg the question why we need the White Paper desperately now."
Gambling Commission's rules
It is important to recognise that the Gambling White Paper differs from the Gambling Commission rules which came into force last September and is guiding the charges handed down to William Hill and others.
The main difference is that the White Paper is intended to be a complete review and overhaul of the Gambling Act 2005, while the Gambling Commission’s rules are a specific set of measures put in place to “protect consumers at risk of harm.”
The measures outlined require operators to monitor a specific range of indicators to identify gambling harms, flag indicators of harm and act in a timely manner and prevent marketing and take-up of new bonuses for at-risk customers.
Additionally, the rules enforce operators to ensure they interact with consumers and evidence their interactions.