Top UK Gambling Affiliates Create New Trade Association

The ‘Responsible Affiliates in Gambling (RAIG)’, a new UK industry trade association has been formed in recognition of the roles that ‘affiliate marketing providers must play’ as part of the wider United Kingdom gaming industry initiatives to promote social responsibility and safer gambling standards. Launched on Monday, May 20, the new trade association will initially comprise of its founding members who happen to be major players in the United Kingdom’s gambling affiliate sector. These organizations include the Racing Post, Oddschecker and Better Collective.

Annual Audit for Members

RAIG hopes to grow further as more like-minded companies join in due course. For all the members of the trade association, there will be a mandatory annual social responsibility audit that that will be conducted by Gambling Integrity which is a team of experts in almost all aspects of gambling compliance – they mostly specialize in player protection, anti-money laundering, and financial crime.

The Gambling Integrity audit is designed to ensure that the members of RAIG are not only compliance with a range of existing regulatory and non-statutory regulation but also any other additional measures that may be adopted along the way. Some of these regulations include:

  • The UK Code of non-broadcast Advertising and Direct and Promotional Marketing (the ‘CAP’ code)
  • The UK Code of Broadcast Advertising (‘BCAP’ code)
  • The Gambling Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising
  • Any relevant guidance issued by regulators such as the Advertising Standards Authority; Gambling Commission; and Information Commissioners’ Office on affiliate marketing requirements.

In addition to all that, the newly formed trade association is also committed to proactive engagement with politicians as well as other stakeholders in both consultations and discussions pertaining to the responsible marketing of gambling products in the United Kingdom.

Moreover, RAIG will also be tasked with giving early consideration to matters relating to supporting relevant projects in the spheres of research, education, and treatment as well as training facilities and services for those working in the gambling affiliate sector. The trade association will decide whether or not to partake in these projects in collaboration with relevant stakeholders.

The formation of Responsible Affiliates in Gambling comes at a very crucial point where responsible gambling in the UK is being taken very seriously by the responsible parties. The situation is quite bad with a recent study even revealing that the number of underage gamblers in the country has increased four times since 2016. Also, an updated version of the License Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) have recently been introduced with the hopes that it will make things better. Furthermore, the UKGC and other regulators have also been cracking down on erring organizations but there is certainly a lot more that needs to be done.