In this, the second of two articles covering the proposed new gaming code of practice, we continue to review the most important points of the proposal
Operating Procedures and Internal Controls
The Act creates an obligation for licensees to establish an effective system of internal controls and procedures. Although it is recognised that operators have adopted different standards for different procedures and internal controls pursuant to their individual circumstances and business requirements it is necessary for operators and industries at large to make such information readily available to the Gambling Commissioner.
Operating procedures and controls should be proportionate to the scale and nature of the licence holders’ gambling activities. Generally speaking, these should address: Corporate structure and reporting; Internal and external audit arrangements; Accounting and financial control standards; Customer and transaction controls including security; Business continuity/ disaster recovery plans; Anti-money laundering arrangements; Age verification procedures; Problem gambling and self-exclusion policies; Customer complaints arrangements; System testing and security arrangements; and Web content; Needless to say, a comprehensive published operating procedure manual or internal controls booklet is considered as basic good governance and will facilitate internal audit by the Gambling Commissioner.
Minimum Age for Gambling
Age verification measures should be in place and these include, as a minimum, individuals’ names, age and address. All operators are expected to take reasonable steps to prevent a person under the minimum permitted age from participating in gambling activities and these also include free play. Licence holders are expected to take reasonable measures to test the effectiveness of their systems and permit the use of parental blocking and filtering systems.
Transaction Record Keeping and Provisional Accounts
The final version of the Code could require each licence holder to provide the Gambling Commissioner with quarterly statistical financial returns in respect of each licensed activity. The data comprising the Regulatory Return is seen as a primary indicator of the licensee’s scale and range of activities to enable adequate supervision. Suitable security and confidentiality measures would be applied by all parties concerned in accordance with applicable data protection and privacy laws.
It remains to be seen whether the industry will concur with the Gambling Commissioner that quarterly as opposed to bi annual or annual returns are adequate enough, and quarterly returns could be seen as disproportionate, especially when the Gambling Commissioner is already empowered under the Act to request any type of information related to the gambling activities taking place at any time on reasonable notice.
Data Protection Measures
The Data Protection Act 2004 applies to all Licensees. The final version of the code may well regurgitate the main obligations of the Data Protection Act and related privacy provisions.
Complaints
All Licence Holders are required to promptly enquire into any complaint about a gambling transaction made to them by a participant or referred to them by the Gambling Commissioner.
Wherever possible, complaints should be investigated by the Operator and brought to the attention of the Gambling Commissioner but only if the Licence Holders’ internal complaints procedures have failed to resolve the issue at first instance. Exceptions to this would include very serious complaints involving substantial sums of money or issues of public interest. In this case, it is recommended that the complaint or issue incapable of being resolved be brought to the Gambling Commissioner’s attention at the earliest available opportunity.
Kindly note that the term “Gambling Transaction” in this context is given a broad interpretation including, the wide administration of gaming accounts, marketing and any matters designed to affect the gambling transactions themselves.
In addition, Licence Holders will be expected to have in place a system for recording and examining customer or third party complaints. This should include adequate resources to address complaints expeditiously, access to an independent adjudication process for appropriate disputes and a means of maintaining a record of all complaints that can be made available to the Gambling Commissioner as and when reasonably required.
Registration of Participants
The Act requires operators to ensure that all their players are registered with them in the form specified under the Act (and indeed the Licence Agreement). This is a minimum standard imposed by both the terms of conditions of Licence and the Act and requires the players full name, residential address and age. Needless to say, this information must be kept by the operator in accordance with data protection principles currently applicable. Random checks and dip sampling of accounts by the Gambling Commissioner and other examinations would be subject to proportionate and ad hoc recording.
Site content
A potential requirement of the Code could cause the operator to display on each homepage a link or links to a page that includes:-
(a) Full name of the licence holder and address from which it carries on business pursuant to its Gibraltar licence;
(b) A statement that the licence holder is licensed under the Act by the Gibraltar Licensing Authority or Government of Gibraltar;
(c) A statement that the licence holder is regulated under the Act by the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner (in this regard the final version of the Code could require a live link be set up to the GRA site); and
(d) A statement in respect of the permitted age for gambling.
Therefore, it is regarded as good practice to include the emblem of the Government of Gibraltar as a link to the Government website and a separate link on the motif of the GRA to the GRA website which would serve as a means of indicating to users that the licence holder is indeed regulated by this body in addition to being licensed by the Government.
Given the complexity of various Licence Holders’ websites and web operating structures and given the diversity in which people may now access remote gambling facilities (including mobile gaming) inclusion of the above information on the homepage only is now seen as sufficient. As a consequence, the final version of the Code could require Licence Holders to ensure that these motif emblems and those associates with problem gambling advice and any other warranty assurance or warning links or terms or conditions are displayed on every page preceding and following the actual betting pages.
Mobile Gaming
Given recent trends in the technology and methodology by which gaming is currently offered to the public at large the proposed code of practice recognises the use of mobile telephones and notes the additional challenges presented by this method of remote gambling.
It is likely that the code will impose pre-conditions to facilitate mobile gaming. For example, operators may only allow players to use mobile facilities if the player has first registered to play via the licensee’s website and in doing so acknowledges that gambling by mobile phone should be done in conjunction with an internet account and not in isolation of it. This would mean in practice that the player will have to register via a PC. In particular new deposits to the account should only be possible through the website or through voice communication with a live agent. In addition, at the commencement of any mobile, telephone gambling a reminder that the gambling is provided under the agreed terms and conditions on the website should be acknowledged by the player.
Similarly, mobile phone gambling may only draw on funds credited via the parent website or by voice call arrangements where the Customer Services Operator has sight of the player’s gambling account and history. Therefore, it is a condition precedent to the use of mobile phones in gambling under the new Code to conduct every registration, procedure and avail oneself of the terms and conditions of gaming through a computer in the traditional sense.
This article is necessarily limited in its scope and, in light of the fact that the subject matter of the article is currently in proposal form, regard must be had to the possible changes that may be effected to the actual code. ISOLAS will continue to monitor developments in this area and will continue to keep its clients and partners up to speed on any developments.