Archive | August, 2016

CRI: “The winner takes all: licensing issues in the gambling sector”

David Clifton and Suzanne Davies have written a comprehensive guide for insolvency practitioners and other professionals entitled “The winner takes all: licensing issues in the gambling sector”. The article was first published in Corporate Rescue and Insolvency Vol 9.4 August 2016 and can be downloaded below. CRI is a bi-monthly journal published by LexisNexis which offers commentary and analysis […]

Clifton Davies & Extrayard to speak at October’s Pub Goers Conference

The Pub Goers Conference will return to the Royal Garden Hotel, Kensington, on Wednesday 12 October, as Pub & Bar brings its guest-focused event back for 2016. More information can be downloaded below. David Clifton is teaming up with Roy Ramm of Extrayard Limited (formerly Commander, Specialist Operations at New Scotland Yard) to present a conference session entitled “Dealing […]

HMRC consults on tax treatment of free plays

The government announced at Budget 2016 that it would align the tax treatment of free gaming subject to Remote Gaming Duty with the treatment of free betting within General Betting Duty – see our Budget commentary and David Clifton’s comments quoted in World Online Gambling Law Report at https://cliftondavies.com/david-clifton-comments-in-woglr-on-budget-announcements-affecting-the-gambling-industry/. HMRC has now published a consultation paper […]

Virtual currencies, eSports and social gaming – discussion paper

On 11 August 2016 the Gambling Commission published a discussion paper which it described as “setting out its latest thinking on virtual currencies, eSports and social gaming and seeking views on emerging issues that can pose a risk to both regulation and player protection”. The paper also explains (by way of three separate “illustrative” flowcharts) […]

Chancing your luck at “Spot the Ball”

The Court of Appeal recently refused HMRC permission to appeal to the Supreme Court over its decision that Spot the Ball is a game of chance on which Sportech and other companies had overpaid nearly £100m in VAT. However, HMRC hasn’t given up, since applying directly to the Supreme Court for such permission. David Clifton provides […]

UKGC views on “getting the balance right”

David Clifton comments on the Gambling Commission’s Annual Report for 2015/16 and a speech entitled “Gambling: Getting the balance right” given by Philip Graf at the Royal Society of Arts as he comes to the end of his five-year term as Chairman of the Commission. Together, they provide some considerable insight into the Gambling Commission’s present and […]