LONDON (Alliance News) - William Hill PLC, Ladbrokes PLC, Paddy Power PLC and Gala Coral are creating a self-regulatory body to impose tougher standards on the industry as they seek to head off criticism about the rise of problem gambling, the Financial Times reports Monday.
Other gambling companies, including Betfred and Bet 365, have also been invited to sign up to the new watchdog, which will be launched in January, the FT says, adding that the new body has been dubbed the Senet Group, after a board game that was popular in ancient Egypt.
William Hill, Ladbrokes, Gala Coral and Paddy Power will say on Monday that they are committing to new restrictions on the way they advertise, the FT said. This includes a voluntary ban on advertising sign-up offers ? such as free bets ? on television before 9pm, so as to reduce the number of children exposed to the publicity. They will also withdraw all advertising of gaming machines from betting shop windows, and will dedicate a fifth of their window space to responsible gambling messages, the newspaper added. These restrictions go beyond what is currently required by UK regulators such as the Gambling Commission.
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/51a3107e-3c0a-11e4-96b8-00144feabdc0.html?ftcamp=crm/email/2014915/nbe/UKBusiness/product#axzz3DMP0oC7U
By Steve McGrath; stevemcgrath@alliancenews.com; @stevemcgrath1
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