Soon the UK’s White Pages system of dealing with overseas online gambling operators will be a thing of the past, according to the government. John Penrose from the Department of Culture, Media and Sport said that the UK will end that system and do their own licensing and regulating of offshore gambling companies.

For now, the White List passes off responsibility to foreign regulators. Certain foreign regulatory agencies are approved on the White List and if they approve of an online casino, the UK basically says “if it’s good enough for them, it’s good enough for us.” By relying on foreign regulation, the UK is able to avoid the costs of regulation as well as pass off the responsibility. As a perk for the casinos, that allows them to avoid paying taxes in the UK if they are located overseas, though they are still allowed to do business there, including advertising.

Full Tilt Poker changed all of that. After the Black Friday indictment by the United States and the subsequent refusal (or inability) to repay those who had deposited money with the poker room, their licensed was suspended by their regulators in Alderney. Soon London will be home to a public hearing on Full Tilt, to discuss their future and whether they will be allowed to remain in business. After all of that, the UK isn’t as confident in the regulatory power of other countries and wants to do it on their own.

Pensrose says that the UK will institute its own licensing and regulating structure and any foreign online casino that is not licensed by the UK will be banned. He says it will help protect British citizens, but some in the casino industry are decrying having to pay the taxes and fees. As a result of the announcement of regulation and taxes, stocks of many gambling operators that do business in the UK have fallen, most notably a 3.9% drop for Betfair and a 5.75% drop for Paddy Power.

Jeremy Hunt, the UK Culture Secretary, plans to initiate a massive overhaul of the online gambling regulations in the United Kingdom. Though there was already a push to do that, the recent Black Friday scandal in the United States and its impact on Full Tilt Poker has made reforms more urgent.

According to a spokesman for the Department of Culture, Media and Sport, the Full Tilt scandal “highlights why the government is looking at reforming how overseas-based operators are regulated.” Currently, online gambling operators based overseas can accept UK customers and even advertise in the UK without having to obtain a license or submit to any regulation from the UK government. Instead, the UK Gambling Commission has always differed to foreign regulators, such as the government of Alderney, where Full Tilt Poker is licensed.

The problem is that due to the scandal, many UK customers are unable to recoup money won at the online poker room. When the U.S. Department of Justice indicted Full Tilt Poker’s founders, they also froze bank accounts related to the transactions, including some in the UK. Subsequent to the American indictments, the Alderney regulators revoked Full Tilt’s license, effectively shutting the company down. Anyone who still had money deposited with the company is out of luck, at least for the time being.

PokerStars was indicted along with Full Tilt Poker, but the former company has cooperated with the government and has returned all funds that players have requested. Full Tilt never did return the money and is now shut down. According to Hunt, the scandal with Full Tilt Poker shows why the UK government should be regulating any online gambling company that operates in their jurisdiction. A spokesman for the Culture Department said that they hope to make an announcement regarding new regulations “in the next few weeks.”

If you thought that the “evil corporations” in the United States were the only folks pumping millions to lobbyists to influence government policies, think again. The UC Group, a payment services company based in the United Kingdom has spent upwards of $5.23 million lobbying to influence the powers that be to legalize online gambling in the United States. Finally after all of these years, the Brits are fighting for our independence! 

The amount of money pumped into lobbying for British interests is truly surprising when you consider the scary thought that non-citizens exert so much influence over folks hired and paid to represent American interests. Companies like Virgin Atlantic, British Airways and Anglo-American (a mining company) have spent over $3.5 million since September of last year alone! The numbers only go up for UK based companies lobbying for more controversial industries like online gambling, alcohol and tobacco.

“We are certain that our efforts will yield an open market for non-US based gaming operators” said Kobus Paulsen, UC Group’s CEO.

While lobbying for online gambling from overseas companies is legal, it does not come without its share of controversy. It is very possible that some of the money goes to curb criminal proceedings against illegal online gambling activity. Sportingbet, an online gambling firm, paid upwards of $60,000 last year for “settlement of potential criminal charges related to online gambling.”