William Hill Plc and Ladbrokes Plc shares fell after the U.K. government said it plans stricter licensing requirements and a levy on overseas gambling firms that want to provide their services to British consumers.
Online gambling firms active in the U.K. will be required to share information about suspicious betting patterns with the industry’s governing bodies under the new rules, the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said in a statement in London today. They also will be pressed to contribute to a fund aimed at helping people with gambling problems.
The measures will affect William Hill and Ladbrokes, which moved their online operations to Gibraltar in August, citing U.K. taxation and levies. The government said it will consult them and other companies affected by the proposed changes including Party Gaming Plc, 888 Holdings Plc and Sportingbet Plc. Parliament must approve the rules.
“The new system outlined today will ensure that all businesses offering online gambling to our consumers adhere to our rules -- not someone else’s,” Sports Minister Gerry Sutcliffe wrote in a statement to Parliament in London today. “This is also about making sure overseas firms contribute their fair share towards regulatory costs and vital services like problem gambling treatment.”
William Hill shares fell 3.4 pence to 189.1 pence, and Ladbrokes declined 1.4 pence to 142.1 pence at 12:32 p.m. in London today.

The government has stepped up restrictions on gaming companies and increased pressure for contributions to the problem gambling fund after it implemented new laws in 2005 allowing the industry to build more casinos. The gambling fund remains voluntary, though the government has threatened to make it compulsory.
The government now wants to extend those rules and the levy for problem gambling to cover overseas gaming companies in addition to the ones based in the U.K.
British gamblers form one of the largest customer bases for online gambling in the European Union, Sutcliffe said. The government also is also considering what the plans mean for operators based in countries outside the Europe Economic Area and Gibraltar. Currently the government has an approved “white list” of countries which are allowed to advertise in the U.K.
The U.K. intends to keep the white list in some form and “it will remain a fundamental part of any future regulatory system,” Sutcliffe said.
Sutcliffe also said he was looking at applying the so- called Horserace Betting Levy to overseas operators. His aim is to ensure all operators taking bets on British horse races pay in to the fund that supports the industry.

Source: Bloomberg

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