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All change for commercial gambling?

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15 September 2017 / Philip Evans KC , Tom Orpin-Massey
Issue: 7761 / Categories: Features
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Philip Evans QC & Tom Orpin-Massey cast an eye over the Gambling Commission’s new enforcement suite

  • How might the changes to the Gambling Commission’s key enforcement policy documents affect licensees?

The Gambling Commission published its new suite of enforcement policy documents on 5 July 2017. The changes represent arguably the biggest shift in regulatory emphasis since the commission was established in 2007.

Gone is the written presumption in favour of voluntary settlements between an operator and the commission. Instead the commission will put all its regulatory tools on an equal footing, and among those tools are formal licence reviews and financial penalties.

A further sea-change is a new focus on the consumer : their needs, expectations, and gambling experience. Sarah Harrison, chief executive of the commission, is a former managing director at OFGEM, the gas and electricity regulator, and has clearly imported this consumer-centric approach. This may have a profound effect on the way the commission regulates.

The new enforcement suite

The commission’s new enforcement approach is set out in four key policy

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