Alderney Gambling Control Commission

The Alderney Gambling Control Commission (AGCC) issues licences for remote gambling only, usually over the internet. Its application and assessment process for all licences and certificates dates from 2009, and the current fee table from 1 April 2015. Its aim is honest, fair electronic gambling that protects the young and the vulnerable. The Commission keeps a register of licences and certificates (open at its offices by appointment) and publishes extracts; the AGCC cites 70+ licences and certificates, 100+ URLs, 20+ game providers and 10+ hosting facilities.

The eGambling licence has two categories, applied for singly or together: Category 1 covers the registration and verification of players, contracts with them and managing their funds; Category 2 covers effecting gambling transactions and operating a gambling platform in an approved hosting centre. A temporary licence permits any betting, gaming, wagering and lottery participation with a full licence’s obligations and privileges, bar exemptions, but for at most 29 days in a row or 59 days within six months; the Commission is told within one hour of starting and ending, and from the 30th day of continuous or 60th day of aggregated use the AGCC requires a full licence application within 42 days. Certificates go to a supplier of gambling software (Core Services Associate), a foreign entity with Category 1 functions (Category 1 Associate), an entity receiving a Category 1 licensee's customers (Category 2 Associate), a gambling equipment site (Hosting, required on Guernsey) and a licensee's managers (Key Individual).

The first-year fee for Category 1 and 2 is £17,500 for a company new to that category in Alderney and £35,000 for other new applications. Category 1 renewal follows annualised net gaming yield: £35,000 (below £500,000), £60,000 (below £1m), £80,000 (below £5m), £130,000 (below £7.5m), £200,000 (below £20m), £290,000 (below £30m), £400,000 (£30m or more); Category 2 renewal is £35,000; each gambling business associate adds £3,000 a year. A temporary licence costs £10,000 per calendar year, a Core Services certificate £10,000 a year, Category 1 and 2 Associate certificates £35,000 for the first year (otherwise £50,000) and £50,000 on renewal, and a hosting certificate nothing. Investigation deposits are £10,000 for a licence or associate certificate, £5,000 for a temporary licence, Core Services or hosting and £1,000 for a key individual; internal control system approval takes £10,000, equipment approval £5,000, an inspection £7,500 and Commission time £75–£300 an hour. Deposits cover actual costs; any balance is refunded. On average licence and equipment approval take 60 days each, new games 21 days and the internal control system 70 days, its final review usually a week.

The applicant is an Alderney registered company with a notice in the Alderney Gazette; then a meeting covers the business plan, associates and third-party software providers, corporate entities and key individuals. Gaming servers sit in an AGCC-approved hosting centre in Alderney or Guernsey. Before launch the Commission approves the internal control system, the independently tested gambling equipment and the capitalisation: cash above player balances, current assets above current liabilities and total assets above liabilities by at least 25%. Within twelve months of going live and yearly after, the AGCC visits the licensee's main operational centre. Licensees include Betway Alderney Limited, Greentube Alderney Limited, Playtech Software (Alderney) Ltd and Kambi Sports Solutions (Alderney) Limited.