Even as regulatory bodies aim to create a harmonized global industry, each has their own approach – although the fundamental principles remain the same.
These include adopting innovative practices, protecting players and upholding integrity while paying accurate taxes and fees.
These principles are essential in creating a sustainable gambling industry and acknowledging that gambling harms can be mitigated through targeting broad determinants, networks of influence, dependencies and conflicts of interests.
Fairness
Fairness is of utmost importance to recreational gamblers and regulatory bodies’ responsibilities. Testing and auditing procedures are implemented to ensure gambling games are fair. They also certify the random number generators used by gaming software to guarantee players don’t feel like they are getting shortchanged.
Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations are also enforced to reduce fraud and money laundering in the gambling industry, monitor transactions, report suspicious activities to law enforcement, and report transactions that violate these rules to law enforcement. Failing to follow these rules could incur severe fines against gambling businesses.
Independent AML compliance audits can also help gambling businesses detect any failures and enhance their programs to avoid regulatory fines, build customer trust and increase purchase intentions, as well as serve as the foundation for policy initiatives to reinforce fairness – the UK Gambling White Paper serves as an example; its influence will extend worldwide markets.
Integrity
Gaming and gambling industries can be prime targets of money laundering and terrorist financing activities, so compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) regulations is critical to protect customers. This means conducting enhanced due diligence on high-risk customers as well as identifying suspicious transactions; furthermore a strong internal control system must also exist to minimize money laundering/terrorist financing risks.
Regulators must ensure games are fair through rigorous testing and auditing procedures, certifying random number generators to guarantee impartial outcomes, and not targeting vulnerable players such as children or teenagers with online casinos.
Integrity in gambling research must also be restored by making sure gambling industry funds do not fund academic publications or conferences, while researchers should disclose all sources of income in their papers.
Taxes
Gambling is one of the most heavily regulated and taxed industries in many states due to the enormous potential for huge rents generated from it, as well as public health concerns related to addiction or other related social problems caused by gambling. Yet casinos and lotteries still tend to increase state revenue.
However, the industry still faces several risks such as money laundering and underage gambling. To combat these risks, companies must comply with KYC regulations and conduct ongoing monitoring of customers in order to identify fraudsters or money launderers and protect themselves from costly regulatory fines by meeting KYC requirements and conducting independent audits which identify any AML failures which need correcting before regulatory inspections take place.
Lottery revenue can be used to support local economies. In Iowa, for instance, lottery proceeds have been funneled toward community cultural grants since FY2022. This is an effective way of supporting the arts while stimulating economic development within your own state.
Regulation
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) promotes responsible gambling by requiring online casinos to meet industry standards that include onboarding customers for verification, prohibiting money lending between players, reporting suspicious activity to regulators and more.
Notwithstanding this, there remains an uneasiness regarding the application of law that is unsettling; not because this variation derives from legislative processes but from individual gambling regulators choosing not to enforce certain sections in certain situations and not publishing any explanation for their decisions.
State regulations must also ensure that gamblers are fully aware of the potential costs and risks involved with gambling habits, through information campaigns, reminders or requiring gambling operators to impose loss limits for consumers. Such measures may help combat pathological gambling by raising awareness on understanding the true costs associated with their gaming activity.