Gambling

It has maintained its reputation consistently since then. Each of The Legal 500 and Chambers & Partners Guide to the UK Legal Profession place it in the top ranks of law firms in this field of law, and have described the Team as “truly proactive practitioners” and their service as “exceptional, detailed and professional”.

The word “gambling” is defined in the Gambling Act 2005 as meaning:

• Gaming;

• Betting; and

• Participating in a lottery.

Each of those activities is subject to the regulatory and licensing controls imposed under the 2005 Act, whether conducted in land-based premises or online.

The definition excludes prize competitions, which – if structured correctly – can lawfully be organised commercially for private benefit and profit, free from regulatory control.

Very often, questions will arise as to the particular category of gambling within which a proposed product falls. We are very experienced in advising – without the need to instruct external Counsel – how to structure such products to ensure they fall within the desired category of gambling activity, with all of the regulatory and tax consequences that will follow.

Since the mid-1990s, our gambling law advice has extended to both:

• remote gambling operators seeking to target customers in the UK & elsewhere throughout the world; and

• suppliers to such operators (including software developers and licensors and payment processing providers);

whether participation in the remote gambling is communicated using:

• the internet;

• the telephone;

• television;

• radio; or

• any other kind of electronic or other technology for facilitating communication.

Such advice necessarily includes consideration of the various international jurisdictions which have either introduced, or are about to introduce, regulatory and licensing regimes for remote gambling or which prohibit any such activity.