iGaming regulatory glossary: 25 terms for licensing and due diligence

Use these 25 terms when reading a licence record, examining a supplier proposal or comparing published figures. The entries provide a short definition, a frequent mistake and a route to deeper evidence. They support research by commercial, compliance and investment teams; they do not determine whether a particular arrangement may launch.

Generic entries are editorial working definitions. The authority and company examples identify their own scope: UKGC guidance concerns its Great Britain regulatory remit; MGA licensing examples concern Malta's framework; FATF sets international standards implemented through local measures; GLI describes its own testing and certification services. Entain and H2 define their own measures. None establishes one worldwide licensing, AML or accounting rule.

The four groups below separate licensing and identity, technical assurance and enforcement, financial-crime terminology, and revenue measures. Read the source passage and its date before using an entry to support a business decision.

The territory and legal framework relevant to an activity. In gambling research, identify the destination, product and activity before choosing the controlling source. UKGC operating-licence guidance illustrates why incorporation location and the market served are separate questions.

An authority with statutory licensing, supervisory or enforcement responsibilities within its remit. UKGC's Who we regulate page describes the businesses and individuals it licenses and its role in checking licence conditions. Other authorities have different remits.

In a commercial evidence record, the identified person or organisation holding the licence or entering the contract. Record its legal name and applicable identifier. UKGC distinguishes the legal business name from declared trading names; FATF's separate Legal persons entry describes non-natural entities in its AML standards.

A name under which a business presents or conducts its activities, which can differ from its legal name. The UKGC register lists trading names separately and explains that businesses provide those names and domains.

A regulatory authorisation for its holder to conduct specified gambling activities within its stated scope. The term has a formal local meaning: UKGC describes remote, non-remote and ancillary operating licences, with the appropriate combination depending on the activities.

An authorisation for particular gambling-related supply activities under a jurisdiction's rules. Malta's critical gaming supply licence is one example: MGA describes the software, regulatory-record and game functions within that category. It does not establish a licence requirement for every business called a supplier.

Business-to-business: products or services supplied to another business. MGA uses B2B for its defined critical gaming supply licence. That regulated category is narrower than the general commercial label.

Business-to-consumer: services provided to end consumers, including player-facing gambling services. MGA's B2C gaming service framework identifies the relevant service activities and separately requires approval of gaming verticals.

An authority's published record of licensees, permissions or associated status information. The UKGC business register exposes legal names, activities, licence status and declared names and domains. Fields, historical coverage and update practices differ between authorities.

Documented conformity assessment of identified products or systems against specified requirements. GLI's service terms illustrate the limits: its report concerns the assessed materials, agreed standards and named jurisdictional scope. This is an issuer example, not a universal approval process.

A specified requirement for how a gambling product, system or related security control should operate. UKGC's remote standards distinguish aims, requirements and implementation guidance; its testing strategy describes the assurance required for different aspects.

Action by an authority to investigate or address suspected or established non-compliance. UKGC's policy distinguishes licence reviews, regulatory powers and settlements. Identify the authority, act, affected entity and procedural stage before interpreting an announcement.

A decision interrupting permissions under a licence without revoking it. UKGC can suspend at the start of, during or after a review. The relevant decision determines its effect, covered activities and duration.

Withdrawal of a licence by its issuing authority. UKGC describes revocation following a review and a separate route for unpaid annual fees. The reason and effective date belong in the evidence record.

Anti-money laundering: laws, controls and processes intended to prevent and detect the laundering of criminal proceeds. FATF sets international AML standards; the duties of an individual gambling business depend on applicable local instruments and activity.

Know your customer: shorthand for establishing and understanding a customer's identity and relevant risk information. UKGC's POCA guidance uses the term when discussing customer knowledge and risk-based scrutiny. It is not a globally uniform standalone statutory process.

Customer due diligence: identifying and verifying customers and beneficial owners, understanding the relationship, and conducting ongoing scrutiny. FATF Recommendation 10 supplies this conceptual structure; applying it to gambling requires the relevant local scope.

Enhanced due diligence: additional information, checks and monitoring proportionate to higher identified risk or specified legal circumstances. FATF's Interpretive Note 10 describes enhanced measures; UKGC's linked guidance concerns casino operators, not every gambling business.

For a legal person, the natural person or people who ultimately own or control it, including through indirect ownership or other means of control. This entry uses FATF's legal-person definition; trusts and other legal arrangements have additional, separately defined roles.

The origin of the particular money or assets used in a transaction or relationship. FATF's 2013 PEP guidance distinguishes this from overall wealth and explains why the transferring financial institution alone does not establish provenance. This entry uses that distinction, not the document's triggers as current universal obligations.

How a person accumulated their overall wealth or assets. FATF's 2013 PEP guidance distinguishes this broader history from the origin of funds in a particular relationship. The conceptual distinction does not determine what checks a business must perform today.

Gross gaming revenue. H2 describes its GGR measure as the amount retained by operators after winnings. Stakes less prizes is a simplified illustration for suitable products; commission, rake and supplier income require their own source definitions.

In UKGC regulatory-return guidance, gross gambling yield uses A + B - C: qualifying stakes plus other connected amounts excluding VAT, less prizes or winnings. Its promotional treatment and GB-only or specifically requested non-GB reporting scope must also be checked.

Net gaming revenue: a measure defined by the named publisher or agreement and its stated adjustments. Entain's 2025 glossary defines Sports NGR after free bets and promotional bonuses and treats other cost deductions in separately named measures.

Wagering volume before subtracting prizes. H2's turnover dataset counts stakes and wagers. Handle is another wagering-volume label; check the particular report's inclusion and timing rules rather than treating these labels as proof of identical series. Here, turnover means wagering activity, not business sales.

For a supplier proposal, continue with the published B2B guide and its blank due diligence checklist. For economic figures, continue with the GGR/NGR/turnover guide. Keep a commercial supplier review separate from player CDD: a research checklist is not an AML procedure.

For a focused research request, specify the entity, activity, destinations, product or version, decision and missing evidence. Use the existing custom-research enquiry to agree the required work; this glossary promises no supplier approval or new data product.

The primary sources were checked on 16 October 2026. FATF Recommendations are the June 2026 edition; the source-of-funds and source-of-wealth distinctions come from its explicitly dated 2013 PEP guidance. The Research Desk maintains this glossary on a thirty-day target (next review: 15 November 2026) and reopens affected entries after relevant source changes. Checking a document today does not change its publication date or legal scope.