UK: Deregulation Postponed

The UK government has indefinitely postponed plans to deregulate the casino and betting industry, thus shelving proposals to permit the granting of as many as 25 new casino licences across the UK, and blocking the installation of more gaming machines in betting shops. The collapse of moves towards deregulation – which had been proceeding rapidly and smoothly under the previous administration – will also make itself felt in the area of advertising. Casinos currently are barred from advertising their services or even from listing their name in telephone directories. Those rules would have been relaxed under deregulation but the picture is now uncertain. The gambling industry says that it stands to forfeit £millions of potential increased revenue if deregulation does not go ahead. However, the Home Office – which is in charge of the regulation and licensing of gambling in the UK – said that it is “misleading to say it (deregulation) has been put on the backburner. It remains under consideration.”