Casino Operating Licence Uk
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Operating licences and licensing procedures are absolutely necessary in order for a gambling company to be allowed to run its operations in the UK.
As mentioned in previous publications, it is the UK Gambling Commission which is the competent regulatory authority in the country, has the right and responsibility to issue the operating licences for gambling operators.
Here are the types of casino operating licences that you can apply for:
Casino
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Nowadays, casinos are special facilities which house and accommodate specific types of gambling activities. A great variety of casino games and their variations are currently offered to players not only on the territory of the UK, but also worldwide.
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To date, the casino operating licences are among the most-issued ones by the country’s gambling regulatory watchdog.
Non-Remote 1968 Act Casino Operating Licence
Operators that run casinos which were originally licensed by the provisions of the Gaming Act 1968, basically own an operating licence issued by the UK Gambling Commission. On the other hand, gambling companies that wish to acquire a casino that currently operates under a licence issued in correspondence to the 1968 Act are required to contact the UK gambling regulatory body in order to do it the way you are supposed to.
Every time when the licence details or requirements change, the operator need to contact the UK Gambling Commission as it may be required to pay a licence application fee in order for the relative changes to be made in the licence.
When it comes to the annual fee, the latter depends on the gross gaming yield of the company.
- Supplementary Remote Operating Licence
Such a licence is required in case that the gambling operator applies for a Non-Remote Licence, but still would like to offer certain gaming services over the Internet or by other remote means. It is important that the gaming services in question need to be additional (secondary) to the specified licensed activity.
There is a supplementary remote operating licence fee of £100. No annual fee for such a licence is applied.
Non-Remote 2005 Act Casino Operating Licence
As suggested by the name, this type of licence is issued by the UK Gambling Commission under the provisions of the 2005 Act. In fact, there are two types of Non-Remote Casino Licences issued by the 2005 Act – Small and Large ones.
- Small Licence
This licence is required from operators who run a so-called small casino in the licensing authority areas as follows: Luton Borough Council, Wolverhampton City Council, Bath and North Eash Somerset District Council, Torbay Borough Council, East Lindsey District Council, Swansea City and County Council, Scarborough Borough Council and Wigtown Divisional Licensing Board in the area of Dumfries and Galloway Council.
It is important for gambling operators to be aware of the fact that they are allowed to run only one small casino in the aforementioned areas. In addition, operators who run small casinos are allowed to offer any of the games listed by the Casino Games review Group. When it comes to the small casinos under the provisions of the 2005 Act, such a casino features a table gaming area of minimum 500 sqm, while the non-gambling space allowed should be minimum 250 sqm.
Also, small casinos are allowed to hold up to 80 gaming machines categorised as B1 to D, except for B3A. The gaming machines’ total number depends on the proportion of gaming machines to gaming tables that should be 2:1.
Small casinos owe an application fee for non-remote 2005 Act casino operating licence of £28,641. Annual fee is also applied.
- Large Licence
The Large casino operating licence issued under the 2005 Act allows operators to run a small or a large casino. If they decide to run a large casino, operators should be aware of the fact that they would be able to do that in the local licensing authority areas as follows: Leeds City Council, Southampton City Council, Newham London Borough Coincil, Middlesbrough Borough Council Great Yarmouth Borough Council, Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council, Kingston upon Hull City Council and Miton Keynes Borough Council.
Only one large casino is allowed to be operated within the aforementioned areas. Under the 2005 Act, a large casino features a minimum table gaming area estimated to 1,000 sqm. The minimum non-gambling space of such casinos should be 500 sqm.
As far as the gaming machines located in large casinos are concerned, operators are allowed to have up to 150 gaming machines categorised as B1 to D, except for B3A. The gaming machines’ number is calculated in the ratio 5:1 between gaming machines to gaming tables.
Large casinos are required to pay an application fee for non-remote 2005 Act casino operating licence of £37,591. Annual fee is also applied.
- Supplementary Remote Operating Licence
The supplementary remote operating licence in this case comes as in any other case of an ancillary gaming activity. This kind of licence is issued by the UK Gambling Commission whenever an operator holds a non-remote licence but would like to provide its customers with certain offering by remote means. Of course, these activities need to be additional to a certain non-remote gambling licensed activity.
There is only an application fee of £100 that is applied for supplementary remote operating licence in this case. No annual fee is charged for additional remote gaming activities.
Remote Casino Operating Licence
No matter of the operator’s location, the UK Gambling Commission issues a Remote Casino Operating Licence in the cases when the company offers gambling services to local customers on the Internet or through other means of remote communication. Such a licence is also issued by the country’s regulatory authority in case that any part of the operator’s gambling equipment is based on the territory of the country.
This type of operating licence allows gambling companies to offer casino games over the Internet by using various online services, such as an online casino website, mobile phone application, TV and other web-based services. The games that are included in the casino games range in the licence’s grip are blackjack, roulette, baccarat, poker, etc. The games are required to be part of the list of types and rules of casino games set up by the Casino Games review Group (GCRG).
The Remote Casino Operating Licence also allows gambling operators to link play at terminals situated in a certain casino premise to gaming activities situated in another premise.
There is an application fee that is required to be paid for this licence. The amount of the fee depends on the annual gross gambling yield generated by the remote casino. The annual fee applied is also divided into categories depending on the gross gambling yield of the company.
- Author
Daniel Williams
However, obtaining a license does not mean that any country will now welcome a new operator because the legal systems of some countries (almost all of the US states, Poland, France and others) forbid online casino games, in whole or in part. Moreover, local legal regulations may be inconsistent, and a country which had no issues with online casinos before may enact a law that blocks the activity of gambling sites on its soil. For example, until February 2017, Australia was being a favored place for online casinos of all stripes since the Australians were considered to gamble the most, spending about $8 billion a year according to a research made by Australasian Gaming Expo in 2018. This huge amount of money was going to foreign casinos bypassing the local budget. The new legal system, in particular Interactive Gambling Amendment Act 2017, prohibited the work of foreign casinos without a special Australian license, resulting in lots of gambling businesses leaving the country.
A gambling license enhances players’ trust and address concerns about slots “rigged” RTP (Return To Player) percent and non-payment of big winnings. The reason is that a licensed casino regularly has its random numbers generator audited, and a compliance certificate is given based on the results of the examination. Generally, gambling websites have licensing info in a footer, and experienced players at their first visit always scroll down to see the jurisdiction where the site was licensed.
Online casino owners face a difficult choice of a reliable jurisdiction, which provides licenses that are valid in many countries. As of today, the choice is not rich, and gambling business owners undergo licensing in one of the following countries and territories:
Curacao
The advantages of this small Caribbean island are zero percent tax on casino profits, fast licensing process (usually about 1.5-2 months) and low ongoing expenses. A casino owner has to place computing power (servers) in the Curacao territory. Online gambling industry forms a great part of the island’s budget, which is why Curacao has such an appealing tax system.
Kahnawake
Canada is famous for its very tolerant attitude towards gambling in terms of legislation. In 1996, Kahnawake Gaming Commission was created, which, among other things, provides licenses for online casinos. The first annual license fee is $40,000, software inspection costs $15,000 and annual license renewal fee is $10,000.
Malta
Malta Gaming Authority provides two types of licenses (B2B and B2C) for a period of five years. Those operators who obtained a prestigious Maltese license are on the UK Gambling Commission’s ‘white list’, which allows them to offer their services to British players. The operators have to adhere to a number of requirements, such as filing financial statements, ensuring players’ personal data safety and creating a Responsible Gaming Policy.
The licensing procedure is conducted in several stages: the Authority considers an application—this takes 3-4 weeks—and then the casino obtains a temporary license for a period of six months. After that, based on the results of a thorough analysis, a five-year gambling license is given. In accordance with the new taxation rules, which came into effect on January 1, 2018, online casinos with “B2C – Type 1 Gaming Services” license (slots, board games, live games) pay annual taxes of 1.25% if their profit does not exceed €3.000.000, 1% for a profit of up to €4.500.000, 0.85% for a profit of up to €5.000.000, 0.70% for a profit of up to €7.500.000 and 0.55% for a profit of up to €10.000.000.
Gibraltar
In order to get a Gibraltar license, online casino owners have to prove their financial solvency, provide a business plan and be ready to perform transactions (winnings payouts, players’ credit card data processing) exclusively through Gibraltar’s banks. License holders pay 1% of their annual profit, but no less than £85.000.
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Apart from the jurisdictions above, online casino owners can also obtain a license from the UK, Alderney, Macao, Belgium, Denmark, Isle of Man and some other countries. Getting a license will help a gambling operator to work in compliance with laws and regulations, attracting players by complete transparency, financial transactions safety and fairness of the gambling process. Licensing leads to players’ loyalty. A client of a licensed casino is always sure that every reels’ spin, every blackjack deal is always determined by random number generator system where there is no space for any fraud and software manipulation.