The Alderney Gambling Control Commission contributed nearly £2.5million to the island’s public purse last year.
That means, since it was launched in 2000 the AGCC has contributed around £42.5m to the States of Alderney.
The figures were revealed in the AGCC’s annual report for 2024, which can be read HERE.
The report shows the AGCC has 36 licensees/entities, including seven issued last year, with seven also surrendered or lapsed.
It also showed that the AGCC had an increased number of complaints to deal with last year.
Moneyval
Lord Faulkner of Worcester is the Chairman of the Alderney Gambling Control Commission.
In his statement introducing the AGCC’s annual report for 2024 he references the success of Guernsey’s Moneyval assessment.
He said the AGCC makes a “valuable contribution” to the island and the wider Bailiwick, and he’s particularly pleased with its performance during the year that the islands were assessed by Moneyval.
“Across the board, and by any international comparison the Bailiwick, which includes Alderney, Sark and Herm, performed very well indeed – so much so that only four countries worldwide have scored as highly with regards to risk understanding and the prevention of terrorist financing, and only the UK and the United States rank as highly in terms of sanction implementation.
“No small amount of thanks are due to the States of Alderney for their help in introducing updates to the regulations around eGambling in Alderney which Moneyval found to be full and contemporary and with no deficiencies.”
Lord Faulkner said the extra staff employed by the AGCC during 2023 and 2024 helped assure the positive review of its work by MoneyVal, with the Commission maintaining a “high standard of regulatory supervision in both the offsite monitoring and the onsite inspections that characterise our attentive approach”.
“Many congratulations go to the staff of the AGCC and to the businesses we regulate who were also interviewed and seen to have an excellent knowledge of their sector’s risks,” he wrote.
“No ‘fundamental improvements’ are required to the Alderney regime, but as always there are recommendations for improvements in the areas of supervision and monitoring, and many actions for implementing these are already underway. The next evaluation is set for 2032.”
Activity
While MoneyVal were busy checking that Bailiwick financial services businesses were compliant with international regulations, the AGCC was also busy with its day-to-day work ensuring its clients were compliant with its own rules.
The Commission’s licensing regime dictates that holders of eGambling licences and associate certificates, as well as key individuals, are approved as being “fit and proper”.
All applicants are scrutinised and if a licence is granted, fitness and propriety remain subject to scrutiny on an ongoing basis.
The 2024 annual report shows that as at 31 December 2024, the AGCC had a total of 36 licensees/entities.
This included 19 Category 1 Licences in issue, 9 Category 2 Licences in issue, 1 Category 1 Associate Certificate in issue and 17 Category 2 Associate Certificates in issue.
Alongside licence applications, the Commission also approved 7 key individual applications in 2024 – which is down from the 20 issued in 2023.
During 2024, seven licensees surrendered or allowed their licences to lapse.
A complete list of licensees and certificate holders can be found on the Commission’s website gamblingcontrol.org
The 36 licensees registered in Alderney in turn represent hundreds of online gaming brands. They include big name gambling businesses such as skybet, betway, and sun bingo.
Complaints
The AGCC received 142 complaints last year – up from 40 in 2023.
The Commission said the increase was due to an operator with a relatively large customer base going live towards the end of 2023.
The 142 complaints involved reasons such as Withdrawal issues, Verification issues, Payment method registration issues, Account suspension, Account restrictions, Unfair gaming, Problem gambling, Account closures, and Jurisdiction restrictions.
The Commission didn’t hold any complaint hearings last year – which it says reflects the fact that all player complaints were dealt with.
“The Commission aims to work closely with licensees on resolving issues related to customer complaints, and also liaises with relevant industry bodies,” the AGC says.
Money
During 2024 the States of Alderney received transfers from the retained surplus of £2,445,358 – slightly up from the £2,354,148 received in 2023.
The total amount transferred to date since the AGCC launched is £42.5M.
Other payments were also made to the SoA around rent and management fees of nearly £200,000 – a similar level to 2023.