UK govt issues gambling industry advice on no-deal Brexit
The UK Government has published an eight-point checklist to help those working in the gambling industry prepare for a potential no-deal Brexit.
The UK is due to leave the European Union on October 31 and talks are ongoing over a deal, but with the deadline just over three weeks away, the Government has issued specific advice for people employed in the gambling sector in the event of a no-deal scenario.
Employers are advised to check if their staff need a visa or work permit and meet any requirements for their profession to work in the country they’re going to, as they may not be able to work in or enter a country without the right permit or visa.
All staff working in the gambling sector should check of they need to apply to the EU Settlement Scheme, as this may impact whether they are allowed to continue living or working in the UK.
Should the UK leave the EU without a deal, employers and staff may not be able to enter the EU – including crossing into Spain from Gibraltar – if they cannot show that they meet immigration rules. The Government advises workers check they have the right documents before traveling.
Meanwhile, there could be changes to the way operators and other businesses in the industry access personal data from the EU and European Economic Area. The Government advised reviewing contracts to ensure you operators can continue to do so legally.
According to the Government, most data protection rules that apply to small to medium-sized businesses and organisations would stay the same if the UK were to leave without a deal. The Government said that it is committed to maintaining General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) standards and plans to incorporate this into UK law after Brexit.
Similar advice applies to accounting and reporting, with gambling businesses warned that they may breach requirements in EEA countries if they do not make any required changes.
In terms of accounting, UK-based public companies with a UK listing will need to prepare accounts using UK adopted IAS for all accounting periods beginning the day after the UK leaves the EU.
UK public companies with an EEA listing must comply with rules of the country where the subsidiary is based and produce accounts that comply with the UK Companies Act 2006.
The Government also noted that UK issuers of shares or debt securities that are only admitted to trading on EEA regulated markets will no longer be subject to the audit committee framework. However, the Audit Directive requirement will still apply to companies with a parent company incorporated in the UK.
UK companies will also need to appoint a UK registered audit firm, while an individual UK-registered auditor will need to sign the audit report on behalf of the firm.
For large online business that are based in the UK and provide digital services to the EU, the Government recommends appoint a representative in the EU, or risk being fined for not meeting online security standards. Guidance is also available online for businesses with a dot.eu domain name.
Similarly, for businesses that provide licensed content outside the UK, they may need to change their existing contracts. The Government said that providing this content may not be possible without extra copyright permissions.
To ensure UK copyright law functions properly if the UK leaves the EU without a deal, the Government has introduced the Intellectual Property (Copyright and Related Rights) (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, which removes or corrects references to the EU, EEA, or Member States in UK copyright legislation to preserve the effect of UK law where possible
UK and EU copyright works will continue to be protected in the EU and UK respectively because of the international treaties on copyright
In addition, the Government advised gambling businesses to check what they need to do to ensure that they can import hardware from the EU, if the UK should leave without a deal.