UK Gambling Commission

The level of gambling both online and offline is traditionally high in the UK. This means that a lot of people are attracted by this market to open their own business connected to online playing activities. In this case, it is very important to learn more about licensing in this area and the process itself. Great Britain offers three types of registering for casinos and other connected activities:

• Operating license
• Personal management license
• Premise license.

The first two are issued by the commission on gambling in the UK, while the last one is offered by the place of registration of the company. In fact, for a business, the only useful type of license is the Operating license, which includes all necessary sublicenses. There are different types of licenses, including offline and online casino activities. For example, there are more than 8 licenses for online businesses. There are also separate branches for Bingo, casino, gambling programs, slot machines, and lotteries. Such variety offers to represent a complex approach. Anyway, this can be more difficult to deal with, comparing to simple licensing in Costa Rica, for example.

Apply for a particular license today is possible via the Internet on the website of the state. The whole process will take 16 weeks if everything will go the right way. It is very important to submit a full package of documents. The newcomer will be required to provide such package of documents:

• Identity documents
• Business documents
• Gambling licenses issued by other states (in order to get the right to work in the UK)
• If the company is not based in the UK, the newcomer needs to provide a contact address in the UK
• Fee for registration of the license (not refundable in case of refusal).

The fee depends on the type of license and the category of the payment itself. The new operator can calculate the price directly for the license using a calculator on the Gambling Commission portal.

The regulatory authority nowadays did not oblige operators to license their business in the UK. For this reason, most operators preferred to receive cheaper licenses from Malta or Gibraltar, while having the opportunity to accept deposits from UK players. However, in 2014, a law was passed obliging all operators who take bids from UK players or placed their equipment in the UK to receive a UKGC license and pay UK taxes in the amount of 15% of income. Thereby, probably it makes sense to take a British license in some cases. There are strict requirements that include often checks. Anyway, it is totally possible to work in the UK market. If you are going to open a licensed casino, then you will have to issue two documents - a remote operating license and personal permission for all managers. If you are a small operator, and three people are in charge of the whole process, you can start with the only a remote operating license. Otherwise, each employee who is responsible for the following functions will have to register:

• Gambling operations and strategy development
• Cash flow, budget institution
• Promotion and commercial growth
• Control over compliance with standards
• It and security systems
• Responsible for the fight against money laundering.

This is one of the fastest and active internal markets. Thereby, a good online casino can work effectively with a proper license. To apply for review, the newcomer needs to go to the official UKGC website and fill out the proposed form. If you plan to work in several directions, this point should be indicated. You will also need to upload copies of a package of documents certified by a notary. The final amount of payment depends on the number of selected destinations. The cost of a one-time application fee ranges from 600 to 70,000 pounds sterling. The value of the annual license fee - 155 000 pounds.