FCA regulation of Betindex
Request
There is an email published by the Gambling Commission dated 10th June regarding involvement with the FCA to regulate Betindex. The email states that "only a small portion of the product falls within our remit" which I assume to be the remit of the GC. Please provide full details as to the extent of the product you believed to be within your remit at this point. Please provide details of what elements of the product you deemed to fall outside of your remit. Please provide any supporting documents including any correspondence internally or externally to get to this conclusion
Response
Thank you for your request which has been processed under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA).
In your email you have requested the following information:
“There is an email published by the Gambling Commission dated 10th June regarding involvement with the FCA to regulate Betindex. The email states that "only a small portion of the product falls within our remit" which I assume to be the remit of the GC. Please provide full details as to the extent of the product you believed to be within your remit at this point. Please provide details of what elements of the product you deemed to fall outside of your remit. Please provide any supporting documents including any correspondence internally or externally to get to this conclusion.”
The Commission considers that the information you have requested is already within the public domain and Section 21 of the FOIA provides that information is exempt where it is reasonably accessible elsewhere.
The Report of the Independent Review of the Regulation of BetIndex Limited (opens in a new tab) by Malcolm Sheehan Q.C. covers extensively the elements of the products which were believed to fall inside and outside the remit of the Gambling Commission.
In addition, in response to previous FOI requests, the Commission has published correspondence in relation to the regulation of Betindex. This correspondence clearly sets out the Commission's reasoning for its position on its regulation of Betindex. This can be viewed here:
- Correspondence between Henderson Chambers and the Gambling Commission
- Correspondence with Henderson Chambers
Review of the decision
If you are unhappy with the service you have received in relation to your Freedom of Information request you are entitled to an internal review of our decision. You should write to FOI Team, Gambling Commission, 4th floor, Victoria Square House, Victoria Square, Birmingham, B2 4BP or by reply to this email.
Please note, internal review requests should be made within 40 working days of the initial response. Requests made outside this timeframe will not be processed.
If you are not content with the outcome of our review, you may then apply directly to the Information Commissioner (ICO) for a decision. Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have already exhausted the review procedure provided by the Gambling Commission.
It should be noted that if you wish to raise a complaint with the ICO about the Commission’s handling of your request for information, then you are required to do so within six weeks of receiving your final response or last substantive contact with us.
The ICO can be contacted at: The Information Commissioner’s Office (opens in a new tab), Wycliffe House, Water Lane, Wilmslow, Cheshire SK9 5AF.
Information Management Team
Gambling Commission