In his statement on the UK's new gambling regulation guidelines, Williams said: “It has taken over two years for the Government’s response to be published. The most significant of the measures are the new online stake limits, and the proposals for vulnerability and affordability checks at relatively low levels of losses."
Discussing how he views the impact the White Paper will have on the UK’s land-based operators, Williams added: “Overall, this is good news for the land-based gambling industry at the expense of the online industry.
“Casinos will be delighted with the proposals to offer sports betting, which has always been a strange restriction. Holders of dormant casino licences will also be happy to hear that it may be possible to relocate these to other local authority areas in future.
“Anti-gambling campaigners will be glad that the Government’s proposals have finally seen the light of day but are likely to argue that the proposals do not go far enough to prevent harm."
Overall, this is good news for the land-based gambling industry at the expense of the online industry
Adding his thoughts on the severity of the proposed regulations, Williams added: “For the gambling industry, these measures are not as bad as once feared, although the Gambling Commission’s continuing regulatory pressure on operators for not complying with anti-money laundering and safer gambling rules will have already dented their revenues.
“Let’s hope that these proposals will go far enough to satisfy those on both sides of the debate. What nobody wants is a further two years of consultation on some of these proposals, or worse still, the next Government including in its manifesto a further review of gambling legislation.”
