Channeling through sound regulation and effective enforcement
Moderator: Quirino Mancini, Partner, Tonucci and Partners, Italy (QM) Speakers: David Zeffman, Partner, CMS Law, UK (DZ) Santiago Asensi, Partner, Asensi Abogados, Spain (SA) Dr. Wulf Hambach, Partner, Hambach & Hambach, Germany (WH)
Abstract: Responsible gambling, money laundering prevention, prevention of player fraud and match fixing. Many jurisdictions pursue these and further legitimate policy goals. What are the learnings from mature regulated markets? How do markets achieve high levels of channelization? Is it about the product portfolio, customer experience, the respective licensing systems, or enforcement? Is sound regulation about preventing or remedying risk of negative effects. Can businesses stay profitable amid increasing regulatory burdens?
QM: I have the pleasure to be moderating some very distinguished lawyers and friends and we have a very tricky topic to cover. I would like to start with mature regulated markets as I think it makes sense for to hear what’s been working and what is not really working. This morning, we heard about advertising bans across Europe and I’m sure that there are other lessons too. So David you’re from one of the best regulated markets, traditionally, the UK. Can you give us an overview of what in your view has worked well, what could have been done better and what has not worked at all? DZ: Thank you, Quirino. The UK is one of the oldest if not the oldest, regulated market and obviously, until the turn of the millennium, this was all land based so channelization was not really relevant. But with new legislation which came into force 2007, the UK became one of the first to regulate online remote gambling. So the UK is definitely mature, but as you’ll hear, I think it may be starting to regress. If you go back a few years, the British regulatory regime was open and balanced and there was little if any incentive for consumers to seek out unlicensed operators. The factors behind that were no limit on the number of licenses, no restriction on the type of products that could be offered, a proportionate regulatory regime and sensible tax rates. That created an environment where there were low barriers to
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