Finance Bill 2002: EXPLANATORY NOTE
CLAUSE 14: GENERAL BETTING DUTY:OVERSEAS BET-BROKERS
SUMMARY
1. Clause 14 extends the scope of the provisions contained in the Betting and Gaming Duties Act 1981 that prohibit the advertising or the promotion of any services, regardless of how achieved, offered by a bookmaker not located in the UK so as to cover the activities of bet brokers with effect from the day immediately following Royal Assent
DETAILS OF THE CLAUSE
2. Subsection (1) inserts a new section 9A into the Betting and Gaming Duties Act 1981.
3. Subsection (1) of 9A will make it an offence for a person in the UK to distribute, issue, or circulate, or be in possession of material intended for those purposes, any advertisement or other document promoting the services of a bet broker who is not located in the UK.
4. Subsection (2) of 9A defines the 'services of a bet broker? as either providing a service that allows two persons to bet with each other or making bets on behalf of other persons.
5. Subsection (3) of 9A excludes pool bets from the scope of section 9A.
6. Subsection (4) of 9A ensures that persons who simply get or try to get advertisements or documents sent to them are not guilty of inciting, aiding, abetting or procuring the commission of an offence by the person from whom they get or try to get those advertisements or documents.
7. Subsection (2) inserts a new section 9B into the Betting and Gaming Duties Act 1981.
8. Subsection (1) of 9B provides for the penalty provisions contained in section 9B to apply where a person is guilty of an offence that is contrary to the new section 9A or that is contrary to existing section 9 (prohibitions for protection of the revenue: offences).
9. Subsection (2) of 9B states the maximum penalty a person could receive for his first offence if convicted.
10. Subsection (3) of 9B states the maximum penalty or length of imprisonment a person could receive for his second or subsequent offence if convicted.
11. Subsection (3) repeals the current provision on penalties contained in the Betting and Gaming Duties Act 1981.
12. Subsection (4) substitutes in paragraph 5 of Schedule 6 to the Betting and Gaming Duties Act1981 ?For the purposes of section 9B? for ?For the purposes of section 9(4)? to ensure that previous offences can be taken into account if a person is found guilty of a further offence.
13. Subsection (5) provides for section 9B to come into force on the day immediately following Royal Assent.
14. Subsection (6) provides for the changes apply to offences committed on or after the day immediately following Royal Assent.
BACKGROUND
15. This change extends the scope of the provisions contained in the Betting and Gaming Duties Act 1981 that prohibit the advertising or the promotion of any services, regardless of how achieved, offered by a bookmaker not located in the UK so as to cover the activities of bet brokers.
16. It will become an offence for a person in the UK to distribute, issue, or circulate, or be in possession of material intended for those purposes, any advertisement or other document promoting the services of a bet broker who is not located in the UK.
17. This measure will help to ensure that UK betting customers are not unwittingly drawn into betting with brokers in offshore locations, which often cannot provide them with the same regulatory protection afforded them when betting with companies based in the UK.
18. It will also help protect the competitiveness of the UK betting industry, thereby supporting the Government's objectives both to allow UK bookmakers to grow their domestic and international business, and to secure the revenues from betting taxation.
19. This change comes into force on the day following Royal Assent.