There has been a war of words between online betting exchange BetFair and law firm Olswang about licensing laws. Olswang claims that professional punters operating at the betting exchange fall under new Gambling Commission guidelines which came into effect on April 6th, that “non-licensed traders” would have to get a “General Betting (standard) (remote trading platform) licence.” This licence would cost almost £200 to apply for, with an annual fee running at almost £300. This has all been prompted by traditional online bookmakers who have always argued that punters who are operating a bookmaking business on the popular betting exchange platform, should be licensed. So the new rulings have been applauded by bookmakers, who wanted a crack down on unlicensed layers.
However, betting exchange BetFair have assured punters that the claims of professional punters needing a Gambling Commission Licence, as made by Olswang are nothing but “speculation.” BetFair are insistent that under protection from the Gambling Act 2005, the Secretary of State has no power to enforce the Gambling Commission guidelines. BetFair have also denied that Gambling Commission has even created an additional licensing category, specifically targeted at professional punters operating as betting exchange users. BetFair’s legal response has played down Olswang’s claims, saying the rules and therefore the licence, only applies to “businesses who conduct some of their operations via a remote platform.”
BetFair’s repsonse has actually been backed up by the Gambling Commission, who said that this whole spat between BetFair and Olswang, was nothing but a “storm in a teacup.” The Gambling Commission were keen to stress that their phrase “offering facilities for gambling on other remote platforms in the course of a business” could have caused all this confusion. They also stressed that users of betting exchanges are not being targeted with any licensing requirements.
