Working closely with regulators
We work closely with our regulators to uphold and drive forward the standards expected of our industry in an ever-evolving regulatory landscape and enforcement-led regulator approach. We are committed to operating in compliance with all relevant legislation, regulations and licensing requirements.
The UK Government launched its planned review of gambling legislation in December 2020. The review focuses heavily on online regulation but also recognises the need to ensure that the regulation of land-based gambling is appropriate for today’s consumer and equitable, relative to online regulations. It is critical for the future of the industry that the right balance, evidence and proportionality is applied during this review. In its Call for Evidence, to which we responded, the Government highlighted that problem gambling has been stable in the UK for many years. However, as an industry we must ensure that we continue to do all we can to protect vulnerable customers whilst also ensuring we provide the best experience to the vast majority of customers who never experience any harm. The Government’s White Paper on gambling reform is anticipated in the next few months.
In the last 12 months, the UK Gambling Commission (‘Commission’) has published its consultation responses on three areas: Remote Customer Interaction, Regulatory Panel Reform, and Licensing, Compliance and Enforcement Policy. In particular, under its conclusion to the customer interaction consultation, the Commission moved to implement minimum player protection standards that will be considered by the Government as part of the ongoing review referenced above. It also determined that new requirements to ensure that online gambling businesses do more to identify and take a more tailored approach to customer interactions to further protect customers at risk of harm published as guidance in June 2022 must be implemented in September 2022. During the year, we were also required to implement new remote technical standards requirements that came into force in October 2021 in relation to display of transactions, auto-play functionality, time requirements and reality checks and responsible product design.
In Spain, the Government passed a Royal Decree that imposed restrictions on online gaming related to advertising and responsible gambling, the key provisions of which came into force on 1 May 2021. This followed on from initial measures introduced earlier in 2020 to restrict online gaming advertising in light of the COVID-19 pandemic. In addition, we expect a further Royal Decree on safer gambling to be published in the next few months.
In July 2021 a new Act was passed on measures to prevent and fight tax fraud, which limits cash payments in Spanish venues.
What this means for Rank
Regarding its UK land-based operations, Rank is seeking harmonisation of the 1968 Act and the 2005 Act relating to casinos, specifically the ability to provide a more appropriate level of gaming machines across its 51 casinos licensed by the 1968 Act.
For our UK bingo venues business, Rank is seeking removal of the restriction surrounding the number of Category B3 machines permitted in each bingo venue along with certain other constraints which should result in product innovation and therefore a better experience for our Mecca customers.
For our UK-facing digital business, the political debate continues around player protection checks and we remain engaged and informed on developments through our own efforts and via the industry trade association.
Rank considers its regulators as a key stakeholder with whom engagement continues to be important (please see page 38 of our 2022 Annual Report for more information about how we engage with them). We will continue to engage and evolve our approach to player protection and consumer fairness.
