The U.K. Gambling Commission (UKGC) has warned in an open letter that gambling statistics are being misrepresented, SBC News reported August 14.
In the letter, CEO Andrew Rhodes warned that “opinions on the subject and they sometimes differ very greatly and can be equally strongly held. Sometimes this can boil over into personal comments and even conspiracy theories as to what a given group, organization or individual is believed to be seeking.”
Rhodes noted that the UKGC had seen a “significant increase in the misuse of statistics around gambling” used to make arguments for or against specific proposals.
He called it “unacceptable” for groups with an interest in the industry, or its critics, such as operators, trade bodies, charities, media and sports venues, to misuse such data.
He noted that statistics have been increasingly quoted as the two-year Gambling Act review followed its course.
The letter notes a “common misuse of statistics in recent months has been regarding the rate of problem gambling in Great Britain, and the conflation of problem gambling and gambling-related harm.”
He said the commission was especially frustrated by the use of statistics from the Problem Gambling Severity Index, and cited statements such as “99.7 severity of people who gamble do so without being harmed” or “only 0.3 percent of gamblers are harmed” as examples.
He noted that the PGSI index only applies to only those who gamble, not to the population at large, as some have suggested. Nevertheless, Rhodes said that the U.K.’s problem gaming rate “overall is low,” compared the numbers of those who participate.
Rhodes concluded, “The debate around gambling is often a fierce one, but nobody is well-served by statistics being misused to further an argument…I therefore ask anyone commenting on this area to take a greater degree of care to ensure they are using evidence and statistics correctly, accurately and in the proper context and with any necessary caveats applied.”
Additionally, Bacta, a trade association of gaming sites, has complained that its members are being unfairly targeted by banks that make moral assumptions about their businesses. They are being treated by some banks as if they are a form of money laundering, says the association.
Bacta CEO John White testified before a parliamentary committee, Yogonet reported August 15.
White told Treasury Select Committee: “We want to confirm that a number of our members have had their banking facilities suddenly and unexpectedly removed. The reasons given are that the banks consider gambling, even low stake low prize activities such as ours, as a money laundering risk – which is nothing short of preposterous. Furthermore, we have been told that banks consider gambling to pose a reputational risk which, they say, offends their Corporate Social Responsibility policies.”
White continued, “Irrespective of anyone’s moral perspective on gambling, there should be no circumstances other than illegality, for a bank not to offer banking services to any of our members.”
Noting that the sector is highly regulated, with operators requiring licenses, White said, “The conditions under which operators conduct their business are set down in law or via the Gambling Commission’s License Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP). Furthermore, bacta members must adhere to the association’s Code of Conduct and Social Responsibility Charter which goes beyond the law and LCCP in promoting high operating standards.”
He pointed out that it can be a major expense for a business to change banks.
“It appears that a moral or political judgment is being made about a business, with little if any real transparency or opportunity to challenge a decision. Small to medium-sized businesses are simply not resourced to take on a big bank.”
He added, “The reasons’ given are that the banks consider gambling, even low stake low prize activities such as ours, as a money laundering risk – which is nothing short of preposterous.”
