European Gaming Lawyer magazine Spring 2014 | Page 15

the form of a “directive” by the LGA vis-àvis mobile gambling would suffice. In fact directives should be utilised more often by the LGA as these can be a means of clarifying, in a transparent and unequivocal way, its interpretation and implementation of the Regulations and also as a means of providing answers to common concerns, without the need to seek an amendment to the law. A more time-consuming exercise the LGA could undertake involves the redefinition of the license categories and consequently the licensing process. Currently the Regulations provide for 4 categories of licenses for remote gaming: 3 licenses are for businessto-consumers and 1 license for business-tobusiness operations. However, the current licensing process and categorisation of licenses is creating a situation where an already licensed operator who would like to add new products is required to go through the whole licensing process, which is unnecessarily time consuming, considering the repetitive nature of the current process. The system could move towards 2 categories of licenses; a B2B license and a B2C license, with a more flexible and product specific approach. Considering the current approach of operators in opting to provide multiproduct offerings, this is the natural next step and the LGA should ensure that the licensing process reflects this approach by providing a quick and product-specific process. With so much change in the remote gaming world and in the realm of technology it is important that laws and regulations, including those which have been greatly successful such as the Regulations, are looked at and updated. ROBERT ZAMMIT is a Senior Associate at WH Partners specialising in regulatory, licensing and litigation law. His principal areas of expertise are licensing of gambling businesses and regulatory compliance in the area of gambling, intellectual property, information security, privacy and data protection. He also advises on employment and direct taxation matters. LONDON Leading the field R E G U L ATO R Y • C O M M E R C I A L • C O R P O R AT E www.jgrlaw.co.uk • [phone] • [email protected]