advertised operators. Further, while the ASA can issue rulings against advertisers, it cannot impose a financial penalty on an affiliate, nor can the Commission. One potential outcome of theGovernment’s Gambling Act Review was that some form of license of registration for affiliates would be introduced. In 2020, RAiG announced support for a licensing or registration regime for affiliates, subject to the detail of any proposed systemand assessment of its benefits to consumers. The group Peers for Gambling Reform (a group of 150 members of the House of Lords) recommended in its written evidence to the Gambling Act review that affiliates should be licensed by the Commission before being permitted to enter contracts with gambling operators and also that operators should not be permitted to contract with unlicensed affiliates. Evidence submitted by the gambling harm charity GambleAware echoed this position. No license requirement Having considered the arguments in favor of a license requirement for affiliates, the Government determined that it was not persuaded that a license was needed. Two factors appear to have influenced that decision. Firstly, the fact that the ASA already regulates the advertising sector and has strengthened its requirements in recent years. Secondly, the scale of work that would be required of the Commission to license and regulate the large number of affiliates currently working in the sector. Overall, it appears the government found the combination of self-regulation and the efforts of the ASA to be working sufficiently well enough to not justify the resources needed to manage a licensing system. The White Paper emphasizes that gambling operators will remain liable for the actions of their affiliates, including any advertising to self-excluded customers that is regarded as a breach of license conditions by the operator. This position will be kept under The UK Gambling Act Review introduced a plethora of impactful changes that will affect the entire industry. UK gambling regulatory lawyer Melanie Ellis provides an overview of the key changes and what they mean for iGaming affiliates. For those affiliates operating on a revenue share basis, the impact of the WhitePaper’s proposals on operator revenueswill inevitablyhave a knock-oneffect. ackground Affiliate advertisers are estimated to deliver between 30%-50% of new customers to British gambling operators, but while they are a vital part of many operators’ marketing efforts, operators are also conscious of the fact they are relying on their affiliate partners to advertise in a compliant way. In 2017-18, the Gambling Commission carried out enforcement action against three operators (LeoVegas, Lottoland and BGO) which related to non-compliant advertising by affiliates. This led to calls for the Commission to regulate affiliates with a specific license or registration. However, the regulator decided to instead introduce revised license conditions. These made it clear that operators are responsible for the actions of their affiliates. Combined with the fact that compliance with the Advertising Standard Authority’s CAP and BCAP Codes is a “social responsibility code provision” of the operator’s license, the result of this is that any advertising breaches by an affiliate can lead to regulatory action (including a fine or license suspension or revocation in the most serious cases) against the operator. In response to the regulatory action and amended license conditions, some operators decided to cease working with affiliates altogether, while many more became selective about those they would work with and/or introduced detailed codes of conduct that their affiliates must comply with. The group Responsible Affiliates inGambling (RAiG) was formed in 2019, withmembers required to complete an annual social responsibility audit. Nevertheless, concerns that self-regulation of affiliates was insufficient continued, with a particular issue identified of affiliates sending direct marketing to customers who had self-excluded from gambling with one or more 47 G P W A t i m e s . o r g
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