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The UK’s Gambling Commission has created a hub with information and legislation regulating white label partners and working with unlicensed businesses.
The hub, which was unveiled yesterday (June 19), comes after several cases where the commission has penalised operators for failing to meet standards in their dealings with third-party operators.
Despite this enforcement action the subject of white labels was mostly absent from the government white paper of gambling reform.
The white label system allows operators to enter the UK market via a licensed company that assumes liability for their operations.
The Gambling Commission hub contains no new information or regulations, but is simply a repackaging of existing information in one place, in an effort to make compliance accessible.
The new site contains overviews of and links to the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) and section 7 of 2020’s Compliance and Enforcement report, which addresses white label partnerships.
The website reminds operators that, “the responsibility for compliance … sits with the licence holder and cannot be transferred to any other party”.
It also reminds readers that it is also the responsibility of the licensee to conduct due diligence on third parties that they do business with in relation to licences activities, including social responsibility and anti-money laundering requirements.
The site provides a link to section 33 of 2005’s Gambling Act, in order to double check that agreements with third parties do not violate it.
The hub specifies in large print that a failure to comply could result in the loss of a licence.
White labels were among the areas called out by the All Party Parliamentary Group for Gambling Harm as still needing reform when it launched its inquiry into the white paper last week.
The group said it was “disappointed to see the relatively weak proposals set out on restrictions to gambling advertising, including for white label and affiliate products”.
Additional reporting by Joe Ewens
