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On 27 May, European Economy ministers called on the European Commission to propose measures to modernise Europe’s single market to make it fit for purpose in the digital age. The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) welcomes the Competitiveness Council’s conclusions and urges the incoming European Commission and Parliament to ensure Europe’s online consumers are put at the center of EU single market policies. Unfortunately, the current European Commission has failed to fully enforce the freedom to provide services in many online sectors – including online gambling where in 2017 it decided to shelve infringement cases in the sector.
 

Predicting how the chips would fall, in 2004 Malta became the first EU state to enact comprehensive online gaming legislation, and is now regarded as one of the foremost tried and tested jurisdictions in the world. The gaming industry in Malta represents a shade over 10 percent of the country’s GDP, according to Heathcliff Farrugia, Chief Executive Officer of the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA). While directly and indirectly employing around 10,000 people in a workforce of just over 200,000. It is already big business, and the smart money is on it getting much, much bigger. But with expansion comes responsibility and that is where the MGA comes in. With its vast experience, other EU members are looking to Malta as they seek to enact legislation themselves in an industry – as yet – not harmonised with inclusive European policy – something Mr. Farrugia sees as the next logical step.
 

Betting integrity body ESSA has relaunched as the International Betting Integrity Association with immediate effect. The move highlights the association’s desire to better reflect the global debate around betting and integrity issues and their leading role in that discussion. The association will continue to represent many of the largest regulated sports betting operators in the world with almost 50 brands feeding into its monitoring and alert platform.
 

Belgium’s licensed igaming operators are facing a number of significant restrictions on how they may advertise their offerings, with a package of controls approved in October 2018 coming into force. From June 1, online gaming operators will no longer be permitted to advertise their offerings on Belgian television. This covers A+ and B+ gaming licence holders, or casino and gaming hall licensees. These operators will only be allowed to advertise via sites licensed by the Belgian Gaming Commission (BGC), or via personalised advertising, which uses user behaviour and interest data to target players.

The Czech Republic’s Ministry of Finance has confirmed that it will increase the tax rate on certain gambling activities in the country from January 2020. At present, the tax rate for gambling is set at 23% of gross gaming revenue (GGR) with the exception of gaming machines, which are taxed at 35% of GGR. However, the new structure will now see taxes split into three levels, according to how harmful the government perceives the activity to be. This is in line with the draft gambling tax act published in 2015. From January 1, 2020, lotteries, live games and bingo operators will be taxed at 30%, up from the current rate of 23%. The rate for fixed odds betting will also rise from 23% to 25%.
 

Danish gambling regulator Spillemyndigheden has launched a new initiative aimed at improving public knowledge of gambling linked to video games, namely skin betting and so-called loot boxes. Spillemyndigheden has seen an increase in the number of parents contacting the regulator over concerns related to skin betting and loot boxes, it said, with many that do get in touch having limited or no knowledge of such activities. Loot boxes offer random rewards and can be acquired by players either through gameplay or by spending real money, while skin betting allows gamers to use virtual items from the games as collateral for wagering.
 

The parliament for the German state of Schleswig-Holstein has confirmed that Germany’s sixteen federal Bundesland (provincial governments) have backed its proposed framework on regulating online gambling services by a majority. German states will back the adoption of the Schleswig-Holstein provisional framework, allowing operators to extend existing igaming licenses until June 30, 2021. Proposed last March, the Schleswig-Holstein framework will allow an unlimited number of operators to be able to secure full igaming licenses, taxed at 20 per cent of gross gaming revenues. Schleswig-Holstein’s extended licensing structure will act as a provisional function for German online gambling stakeholders.
 

A regional authority in Germany has requested a payment provider to stop processing payments from some online casinos and secondary lottery operators and promised more prohibitive payment blockings in the future. EGBA believes payment blockings are not a solution to the problems afflicting Germany’s gambling regulation – and a much more fundamental rethink is needed to develop an effective regulatory framework and bring the country’s gambling policies into the 21st century.
 

The Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Bill 2019, Ireland’s placeholder legislation for the country’s betting and gaming sector, has progressed to the committee stage in the Dáil Éireann. Meanwhile Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe has confirmed that work on an alternative tax system for independent bookmakers to replace the 2% turnover tax in place since January this year is ongoing. The Gaming and Lotteries (Amendment) Bill 2019 is designed to update Ireland’s 1956 Gaming and Lotteries Amendment Act by setting maximum gaming machine stakes and prizes at €10 and €750 respectively. It will also formally impose age restriction of 18 years on betting and gaming products, and set out a new, improved licensing system for lotteries.
 

Italy’s customs and monopolies agency – ADM, the governing body overseeing Italian gambling laws is reported to have finalised its long-awaited online gambling licensing procedure. Having revised Italy’s online gambling laws to include tougher AML protections and customer requirements on registration, the ADM has settled on sanctioning 67 new online gambling concessions. As communicated last February, the ADM has renewed online licenses for Italian legacy operators, Snaitech, Lottomatica, Sisal, Eurobet, Goldbet, Stanleybet and Microgame. The legacy operators are joined by established foreign incumbents William Hill, bet365, bwin, Pokerstars and Betfair all securing new ADM approvals.
 

Betting and gaming giant Bet365 has confirmed that it will be relocating a substantial part of its operations from Gibraltar to Malta, thus expanding its Maltese presence. The company is currently consulting with staff about a relocation to Malta, but intends to maintain a presence in Gibraltar, the website Gaming Intelligence reports. Prime Minister Joseph Muscat said in a tweet that he welcomed the news, adding that it was envisaged that the company would be doubling its footprint in Malta.
 

The chairman of the Netherlands gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has predicted that the country’s igaming market will open on January 1, 2021. René Jansen revealed on June 5 that he expects the Remote Gambling Act, which finally passed the country’s Senate in February after years in limbo, will come into force from July 1, 2020. From that date the regulator will be able to start processing licence applications, Jansen said, with a view to opening the market from January 2021. Work still needs to be done before the Act can come into force, with the Ministry of Security and Justice currently drafting the technical regulations that will underpin the legislation. Once this has been finalised, the KSA will be able to draft licence conditions.
 

A total of 183 businesses have registered their interest in applying for an online gaming licence in the Netherlands, according to the country’s gambling regulator. KSA asked companies eager to secure a Dutch licence to register their interest online between June 5 and June 21. On June 17 it then reported that 79 companies had registered their interest on June 17. This, it said, had jumped to 125 by June 20, with a further 58 stating their intention to apply before the June 21 deadline. More than half (89) of the registrants are foreign operators, of which 83 already hold some form of igaming licence in another country.
 

On 10 June, EGBA, along with Entercash payments processor, brought a case against the Norwegian Ministry of Culture in Oslo District Court over the Norwegian government’s policy of seeking to block online gambling payments. EGBA believes payment blocking infringes on European Union law and the freedom of payment processors to do business across the European Economic Area (EEA).
 

More than nine out of 10 adults in Spain see gambling as a socially acceptable pastime according to a new report published by the country’s leading industry trade group. CEJUEGO’s ‘Gaming and Society’ report shows that 29 million people - 84.8% of people aged 18-75 years old - played one or several types of gambling products in 2018. According to 500 people surveyed as part of the study, some 92% see gaming as a leisure option, likening the money wagered to the price of a ticket for a show.
 

Spanish gambling regulator Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) has published its new three-year strategy, setting out plans to ensure the industry operates in a socially responsible manner while allowing licensees to develop innovative new products and services. The new Charter of Services, which comes into effect this year and runs until 2022, sees the DGOJ set out four priority areas for the period.
 

Nearly half of those who have signed up to the Spelpaus.se Swedish gambling self-exclusion register are between the ages of 25 and 34 years old, national gambling regulator Spelinspektionen said on May 31. In revealing that the number of individuals who have been added to the register has surpassed 35,000, the watchdog said that 40% of those who had self-excluded fitted into the age category.
 

Swedish gambling regulator the Spelinspektionen is one of 16 authorities across the country that have united to increase protocols to counter money laundering and terrorist financing. Coming as a result of a new national risk assessment to identify and assess Swedish authorities’ challenges in the area, it was stressed that there is a need for clearer roles and increased cooperation to strengthen the’ ability to prevent and manage the challenges that exist.
 

Switzerland will next week implement one of Europe's strictest gambling laws, essentially blocking foreign-based companies from the Swiss market and forcing the country's online gamblers to use domestic sites, Bern said on Monday. In a statement, the federal commissions in charge of gambling, lotteries and betting said they would soon publish a "blacklist" of online gambling sites that would be blocked as of July 1st.
 

The UK's biggest gambling firms are offering the government a significant increase in the money they contribute to tackling problem gambling. The owners of William Hill, Coral Ladbroke, Betfair Paddy Power, Skybet and Bet 365 will offer to increase the voluntary levy on their gambling profits. They have offered to up the levy from 0.1% to 1% over the next five years. The new level would eventually raise £100m per year for gambling charities. Last year, the voluntary levy raised £10m. The firms made the pledge in a letter to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS).
 

Unibet, part of Kindred Group, is working with the software company Gamban, to become the first UK bookmaker to integrate blocking software into the self-exclusion process. The extended collaboration means an innovative approach to further help people who self-exclude on their Unibet website. Kindred will offer Gamban’s blocking software for an exclusion period which mirrors the self-exclusion length on-site and all customers will have unlimited access to the software free of charge.
 

If you’ve read news headlines over the past year, you’ve probably noticed the well-publicized scandals involving social media companies and their use of consumer data... In truth, much of this is the result of regulations struggling to keep pace with the internet’s rapid, cross-border, and technological development. There is no doubt this technological step-change has raised questions about where the rights of consumers, the interests of online businesses, and good regulation can intersect harmoniously. I recognize these challenges. The internet revolution has moved my own sector — betting — from traditional side-street bookmaker shops into the computers of millions of customers, just overnight. Today more than 12 million Europeans regularly bet online, conducting nearly 1 million financial transactions to and from our member companies each day.
 

On 26 June, EGBA presented to the European Commission and other signatories, its efforts to comply with its obligations as part of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on advertising and intellectual property rights - an EU Commission-led initiative - which employs a “follow the money” approach to fighting piracy by cutting off advertising funding for such websites. EGBA outlined its efforts to popularise the MoU both internally to its members and externally to the wider sector. EGBA's efforts were further underlined by a 12% reduction in advertising on copyright-infringing websites by the gambling industry in Q2 of 2019. View EGBA's presentation below.

Last month, EGBA's Directory of Regulatory and Legal Affairs, Dr Katie Hartmann, presented at the "Disrupting Online Gambling: Technology, Security and Regulation 2019" conference in London, UK. In her presentation Dr Hartmann outlined EGBA's perspective on effective regulation and outlined a number of key points and challenges in respect to upcoming regulatory changes in a number of EU countries, including Ireland, Netherlands and Sweden. View EGBA's presentation below.
 

The International Betting Integrity Association (IBIA) has seen the number of alerts for suspicious betting activity fall 17% year-on-year for the three months to June 30, 2019. The association flagged a total of 51 events to its operator members and regulatory bodies during the second quarter, representing a 38% quarter-on-quarter rise. Tennis, which has generated the most alerts in recent quarters remained the main concern in Q2, accounting for 25 of the suspicious activity reports that were filed. However, this represents a significant drop on the 44 alerts issued around the sport in Q2, 2018, a 43% year-on-year decline.
 

A new survey commissioned by Novomatic Group subsidiary Löwen Entertainment claims that more that 70% of the German public supports the roll-out of a uniform regulatory framework for all forms of gambling. The study, conducted by market research consultancy smartcon, found that 71% of respondents were of the opinion that differing regulations for different verticals and channels should be replaced by a single, federal system. Smartcon noted that while the vast majority of the population supports the core objectives of the State Treaty on Gambling, many believed that there were issues in how it was being implemented.
 

The Irish Government is considering cutting betting duty by allowing bookies a tax-free turnover of €2.5 million a year in a move aimed at aiding smaller players. The Minister for Finance, Paschal Donohoe, doubled betting tax this year to 2 per cent of turnover, following lobbying from the horse racing and breeding industries, which say their businesses provide a mainstay for online and high street bookies. However, the Government is now considering levying the tax only on turnover above €2.5 million a year after industry body, the Irish Bookmakers’ Association, claimed the doubling of the tax rate was putting smaller, independent operators out of business.
 

A new era for Italian industry incumbents began as the media-wide ban on gambling advertising entered into force on 14 July 2019, exactly one year following the Lega-5Star coalition government publishing its Dignity Decree mandate. The marketing conduct of Italian gambling operators will be monitored by AGCOM, the national communications authority, which has been ordered to enforce the strictest discipline code. It sees operators risk fines equal to 20% of the sponsorship/advertising value and not less than ‘€50,000 for each Decree breach’. However, the Dignity Decree’s anti-gambling faces a number of reality checks.
 

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) has published its Annual Report and Financial Statements for the financial year ending 31 December 2018. The report provides an overview of the activities and work performed throughout the year by the MGA. Furthermore, the report includes a detailed summary of the performance of the Maltese gaming industry during 2018 as well as a medium-term outlook into the future.
 

While it appears that we are no closer to ascertaining how the Brexit saga will eventually unfold, there is a distinct possibility that a so-called ‘Hard’ departure might have a direct impact on a number of key industries throughout the continent. One such example of this is Malta’s booming iGaming sector, which many believe might be affected by Brexit. The key reason for this is Gibraltar. Often a contentious talking point alongside the likes of the Cayman Islands, Bermuda and Anguila, Gibraltar is a British Overseas Territory. However, the fundamental difference is that Gibraltar falls within the remit of the Single Market.
 

A total of 183 businesses have registered their interest in applying for an online gaming licence in the Netherlands, according to Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Dutch gambling regulator. KSA asked companies eager to secure a Dutch licence to register their interest online between June 5 and June 21. More than half (89) of the registrants are foreign operators, of which 83 already hold some form of igaming licence in another country.
 

The Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has taken action to stop 23 affiliate marketing websites from promoting online gaming brands in the country. The move comes on the back of periodic research by the regulator into affiliate marketing activities in the Netherlands, with the KSA examining a total 44 sites as part of the study. The KSA identified igaming adverts on 26 of the websites, with 20 immediately withdrawing the ads after being contacted by the regulator. A further three only agreed to remove the adverts after the KSA warned it could impose a penalty.
 

The Dutch gambling regulator, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the has published its final duty of care guidelines, following a public consultation on the player protection measures. The consultation launched in March, after it was left to the KSA to determine what the requirement for licensees to have a duty of care to consumers should actually constitute. This was set out in the Remote Gaming Act, which passed the country’s Senate in February this year. KSA chair René Jansen said the regulator has published the guidelines to ensure operators paid particular attention to consumer attention when developing its strategy for the Dutch market.
 

Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Dutch gambling regulator, has published a new draft rule, which states that to be eligible for an online gambling licence, a potential licensee must have refrained from offering online games of chance to Dutch consumers for two years. The Netherlands' online gaming market is set to open for business from 2021, but until this point igaming remains prohibited.
 

Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has published its first official guidelines for the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism in the country’s gambling market. Although the KSA’s guidelines are not classed as being legally binding or part of regulations in the country, the regulator said the measures are being put in place to protect both licensees and players from certain threats.
 

Spanish gambling regulator Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) is to introduce new measures banning operators in the country from offering odds on sporting events where all or the majority of participants are under 18. The DGOJ said the move will help fight against fraud, prevent addictive behavior, protect minors and also safeguard the rights of participants in sports events.
 

Spain’s Ministry of the Presidency has given the go-ahead for the formation of a new national commission which is due to tackle betting-related fraud as well as the prevention of sports corruption. The commission is due to consist of representatives from the Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ), the National Police, the Civil Guard, the Higher Sports Council as well as those affiliated with both sports competitions and the betting industry.
 

Sweden’s gambling regulator, Spelinspektionen, has invited its licensees for a meeting in September, days after an industry group sought more clarity on the market’s gambling rules. On 11 July, Spelinspektionen announced that it would convene an information meeting in Stockholm on September 17 for its gambling licensees. The brief notice said that the meeting’s agenda would be revealed when it sent out official invitations in mid-August. The news came two days after the Branschföreningen för onlinespel (BOS) online gambling trade group said it was “concerned and surprised” by the regulator’s recent decision to impose “very large sanctions” on eight online licensees “without any prior warning being issued” for taking wagers on football matches involving players under 19 years of age.
 

Kindred and Betsson have failed in a bid to join AB Trav och Galopp's (ATG) horse racing pools, after Sweden's Competition Authority (Konkurrensverket) rejected the request. The Konkurrensverket concluded that ATG has the right to choose its trading partners, and added that by allowing the two operators to commingle pool betting liquidity with the market leader, it would harm competition in Sweden. By refusing the commingling request, Konkurrensverket said, Kindred and Betsson would instead be more likely to set up their own horse racing pools, thus increasing the range of products available to consumers.
 

The UK's biggest gambling firms have agreed to contribute more money to fund treatment for problem gamblers. The owners of William Hill, Ladbrokes Coral, Paddy Power Betfair, Skybet and Bet 365 will increase their voluntary levy on gambling profits from 0.1% to 1% up to 2023 - a contribution of £60m. It will be "a step change" in how they tackle addiction, the firms said.
 

The Gambling Commission has revealed it is continuing to receive complaints from gambling consumers concerning operators only asking them for ID at the point they ask to withdraw funds from their account. As a result, the Commission has issued a reminder to remote operators to be aware of the changes to the license condititions introduced on 7 May this year. The Commission said that if an operator delays a request to withdraw funds due to insufficient ID being verified, that operator may be in breach of a new licence condition and may find themselves subject to regulatory action as a result.
 

More than two thirds of English Football League supporters believe that gambling companies’ involvement in the football league is acceptable, according to a survey of more than 27,000 fans. Furthermore, 62% of fans believe that the betting industry’s involvement in football was acceptable with suitable safeguards to protect the young and problem gamblers. Over half of supporters surveyed haven’t placed a bet online in the last 12 months, whilst of those that had, the most common frequency – once a week – accounted for 13 per cent. (see pages 133-4 in the below)
 

On 16 August, the Oslo City Court ruled on two of three claims brought by Entercash, a payments service provider, and the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) against Norway’s payment blocking measures in the online betting sector. The Oslo court ruled against EGBA and Entercash’s two subsidiary claims and found there was a sufficient legal basis in Norwegian law for the Norwegian gaming authority to block online betting payments from Norwegian citizens to Entercash. The court has not ruled on the main third claim that the payment transaction ban is an illegal restriction on the EU freedom to provide services within the European Economic Area (EEA).
 

EGBA is partnering with Clarion Gaming to participate in their ongoing Responsible Gambling Webinar Series, which provides a platform for gambling operators and other stakeholders to discuss a range of topics related to responsible gambling, including customer interaction, exclusion tools and advertising. EGBA will moderate a webinar discussion about responsible advertising on 6 January 2020. The series runs from August until January 2019.
 

UEFA’s commitment to fighting match-fixing, protecting the integrity of competitions and ensuring the trust of football fans and stakeholders was highlighted at the latest meeting of the UEFA working group on match-fixing in Istanbul, held on the occasion of the UEFA Super Cup match. Participants discussed a framework for future steps to be taken on key integrity themes included in UEFA’s overall strategy for the period until 2024, Together for the Future of Football.
 

Lower Austria, the country’s largest state, has submitted sports betting legislation to regulate online and retail betting to the European Commission. The Lower Austria Sports Betting Act aims to update the state’s laws governing wagering, with the current legislation, the Law on the Activities of Totalizators and Bookmakers, having been in place since 1978. Though the regulations have been updated six times since 2001, the Lower Austrian government explained that a comprehensive update was necessary as a result of technological developments in the industry, and to set out specific regulations for online bookmakers and betting terminals hosted in outlets such as tobacconists, video stores and restaurants.
 

Debate on reforming wholesale Finnish gambling laws has arisen, as state-owned monopoly Veikkaus suspends its advertising activity until the end of September, implementing a full scale review of its marketing strategy. Veikkaus’ latest marketing campaign, which depicts a ‘therapist character’, advising patients that ‘cravings for thrills and winnings are normal behaviour’, has been chastised for mocking Finnish mental health services, with Veikkaus further criticised for failing to meet its social responsibility standards as the national gambling monopoly incumbent.
 

The state of Nordrhein-Westfalen claims criticism of the third amended State Treaty on Gambling by the European Commission will not lead to any major changes to the wording of the legislation. Earlier this month it emerged that EC general director Lowri Evans had cast doubt as to how effective the Treaty would be in channeling operators and players into the legal market. Evans in particular took issue with the short duration of licences, which are due to be awarded early in 2020 and in effect until 30 June 2021, after which a new regulatory framework is expected to be implemented. This was written in a so-called ‘blue letter’, a formal notice that acts as a precursor to the launch of infringement proceedings against a European Union member state.
 

Online sport betting operators interested in acquiring a new German license will have to demonstrate that they have no connection to German-facing online casino operations. Earlier in July, the Regional Council of Darmstadt in the German state of Hesse – which has been tasked with overseeing Germany’s transition to a regulated online betting market – issued guidelines for companies interested in applying for a German sports betting license.
 

AGCOM, Italy’s communications and media authority has written a letter to the Lega-5Star coalition government stating that the Dignity Decree ban on gambling advertising should be formally reviewed. As the regulatory department tasked with monitoring licensed incumbents advertising behaviour under the Decree’s regime, AGCOM governance has warned Lega-5Star that its ban on gambling advertising is ‘unconstitutional and incompatible’ with Italian business laws. Stating its case, AGCOM details that the Decree’s mandate ‘harms Italian gambling concessionaires’, and further creates an unbalanced marketplace for new incumbents that may have recently acquired gambling licences.
 

The Malta Gaming Authority (the “MGA”) is hereby announcing that for the purpose of ensuring the Gaming Commercial Communications Regulations (S.L. 583.09) are being adhered to, the Authority has set-up a Committee (Commercial Communications Committee). The main functions of the Committee lie in reviewing commercial communications brought to its attention and assessing any possible breaches. In addition, the MGA is hereby issuing the Commercial Communications Guidelines (the “Guidelines”), as part of the MGA’s mission of placing player protection and responsible gaming on top of its regulatory agenda.
 

The MGA is announcing the creation of a new Sports Integrity Unit as part of an initiative to increase focus and resources towards the fight against the manipulation of sports competitions. The Sports Integrity Unit’s role will consist of the gathering of intelligence and information relating to suspicious betting and will serve as a liaison with local and foreign regulatory authorities, law enforcement agencies, betting monitoring systems, sporting bodies and gaming operators in order to investigate irregular and suspicious betting activity.
 

Dutch Minister for Legal Protection Sander Dekker has published secondary regulations for the country's igaming market, with industry stakeholders able to submit comments on the proposed rules until 18 September. The draft regulations confirm the licence fee for operators will be set at €45,000 (£40,994/$50,135), with an additional €8,000 charge set for making amendments to existing licences. As part of each licence application, the country's gambling regulator the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) will look at previous violations of gambling laws in all jurisdictions, not just the Netherlands.
 

Disgruntled gaming companies will have the opportunity to air concerns and clarify regulatory issues next month after Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen invited licensees to a key meeting with various authorities. Representatives from the regulator, as well as the Swedish Tax Agency, Financial Police and the Swedish Consumer Agency will all be in attendance at the 17 September meeting. “The purpose of the meeting is to increase the understanding between the market players and the authorities,” the watchdog said.
 

New rules added to the licence conditions and codes of practice (LCCP) will raise standards for alternative dispute resolution (ADR), strengthen requirements on how licensees identify and interact with customers who may be at risk of or experiencing gambling harms, and improve the transparency of funding for research, prevention and treatment. The latest changes follow open consultations and will come into force later this year and next year.
 

Following a recent call for evidence on the issue of gambling online with credit cards, the Gambling Commission has confirmed it will be holding a twelve-week consultation to begin in mid-August. One approach would be to ban gambling online with credit cards. However, the public and all other stakeholders will be consulted on other options, including restricting the use of credit cards. Deadline for replies: 06 November 2019.
 

An industry-wide voluntary ‘whistle-to-whistle’ advertising ban came into force on 1 August, which will see bookmakers ban all TV betting adverts during pre-watershed live sport broadcasts. The self-enforced ban, will not be applicable to horseracing and greyhound racing coverage, was suggested by the Industry Group for Responsible Gambling (IGRG).
 

As the new EU term begins, much attention has already been given to the importance of making Europe’s digital economy work better for European consumers. Ensuring the EU single market embraces the digital reality and is less impeded by national barriers is a major challenge, but one that EU policymakers must grapple with to prevent Europe’s economy being left behind by global digital transformation. And while much progress has already been made in terms of the EU digital single market rules, it is vital to ensure these rules harmoniously intersect to safeguard the rights of consumers and promote the interests of online businesses. Because today the online economy goes far beyond music streaming, or buying a book online, and includes almost anything you could imagine — including placing a bet on the outcome of your favorite football team’s next match. EU regulation needs to keep up. Here are five reasons why.
 

A new study by the European Parliament has found that deepening EU digital single market (DSM) rules to include online gambling could deliver nearly €6 billion in savings for EU consumers and businesses per year and fill existing gaps in Europe’s consumer protection framework. The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) welcomes the findings and calls on EU policy makers to introduce a single set of rules for online gambling. The study, presented to the Parliament’s Internal Market and Consumer Protection Committee (IMCO) during its session on 2-3 September, evaluated the benefits of existing DSM measures and outlined the potential economic benefits for citizens and businesses by further deepening DSM policies.
 

Last week, Members of the European Parliament (MEPs) passed a resolution calling for EU anti-money laundering (AML) rules to be better coordinated and implemented in a timely manner. The resolution was adopted with 530 votes to 14 and 104 abstentions. The date of transposition of the Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive was June 2017, and the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive is to be implemented by January 2020. As the deadline approaches, MEPs urge Member States to implement the already agreed AML rules into national law, including accelerating preparations on meeting deadlines for the beneficial ownership registers for corporate and other legal entities, and for trusts and similar legal arrangements by 10 January 2020 and 10 March 2020 respectively.
 

The Belgian Gaming Commission has launched a consultation on the sweeping advertising restrictions that came into effect from 1 June this year, through which it is looking to understand the challenges operators face in complying with the new controls. These controls were introduced to ramp up player protection standards in the country, after the country’s government found online gambling advertising to have become “ubiquitous”, with more than 1m players registering with licensed operators.
 

The Danish Competition Authority blocked a Danish trade group's plans to forge an agreement with television companies to reduce the number of gambling commercials, the trade group's chief executive said. The Danish Online Gambling Association has been forced to abandon a planned media agreement to reduce the volume of gambling commercials due to competition concerns, said its CEO, Morten Ronde. The agreement would have been part of its current voluntary code to protect children and vulnerable people, which complements executive orders from the Danish tax ministry. Part of the plan is to create a body to review advertising and publish criticism, funding of which is still being discussed, Ronde said.
 

More Finns oppose Veikkaus’s gambling monopoly than support it and opinions are more negative towards Veikkaus than they were previously, according to a poll conducted by Bilendi Oy and commissioned by affiliate Kasino Curt. The survey found that 41% of the population want to break Veikkaus’s gambling monopoly in the country, while only 28% want to keep it together. Some 17% strongly supported ending the monopoly and 11% were strongly opposed to ending it. In March, support for breaking the monopoly was only marginal, with 31% wholly or partly agreeing to end Veikkaus’s monopoly and 27% wanting to keep it in place.
 

It’s often said that close neighbours mimic each other, and this is certainly the case for Sweden and Finland. The two countries may be fierce rivals on the hockey rink or Eurovision stage, but they do have a similar approach to governance. After all, both Finland and Sweden have economies based on the Nordic Model, mixing capitalism with social welfare. One area in which the two countries have diverged is online gambling. Until recently, Finland and Sweden were in the same boat, with both banning private gambling operators from offering their services to locals. But all that changed on January 1, 2019, when Sweden ended its long-running state gambling monopoly and opened up the market to private, regulated operators.
 

A trio of associations representing French land-based casino operators and their staff have called on the country’s government to confirm that La Française des Jeux (FDJ) will remain prohibited from offering casino games once privatised. In an open letter to the government, Casinos de France, Syndicat des Casinos Modernes de France and the Association des Casinos Indépendants Français (ACIF) asked for the government to clarify exactly what forms of gambling a privatised FDJ may offer.
 

The state of Nordrhein-Westfalen claims criticism of the third amended State Treaty on Gambling by the European Commission will not lead to any major changes to the wording of the legislation. It emerged that EC general director Lowri Evans had cast doubt as to how effective the Treaty would be in channeling operators and players into the legal market. Evans in particular took issue with the short duration of licences, which are due to be awarded early in 2020 and in effect until 30 June 2021, after which a new regulatory framework is expected to be implemented. This was written in a so-called ‘blue letter’, a formal notice that acts as a precursor to the launch of infringement proceedings against a European Union member state.
 

Hesse has repeated its threat to break away from Germany’s other 15 federal states and develop its own regulatory framework for gambling should lawmakers fail to overhaul the country’s laws by 2021. The state’s Minister for the Interior Peter Beuth warned that should the state’s calls for an end to the prohibition on in-play wagering and online casino go unheeded, it would cease working toward a federal model. The Regional Council of Darmstadt is preparing to begin processing federal sports betting licence applications from January 2020. Beuth said this was being done to break the legal impasse and channel players away from illegal offerings.
 

An increasing number of Hungarian people are taking advantage of the opportunity to suspend themselves from gambling, according to the local news hub Magyar Hírlap. As reported by the media, 150 people have filed requests in the Gaming Supervisory Authority (GSA) in the first six months of 2019, asking to be banned from gambling for five years. Since January 1st, 2016, Hungarian people who are struggling to restrain themselves from gambling have been able to take active measures. A change in the country’s legislation has provided them with the chance to file self-restraint statements at the Gambling Supervisory Authority to ban themselves from gambling for a certain period of time.
 

The Dutch Gambling Authority (KSA) has clarified the obligation of its licensees to report internal failures and attempted to address reportedly high levels of underage gambling in the country. Casinos, bookmakers and lotteries are all obliged to report “incidents”, which are defined as “all situations that could damage the consumer's confidence”, to the KSA as part of their licence obligations, the regulator said on Wednesday. Publishing the wrong results, lottery draw technical failures, production errors in multiple gaming tables, the participation of minors in a game of chance and disruptions in the process related to access control, draws or payments are all examples given by the KSA of incidents that must be reported.
 

The consultation on the Netherlands’ secondary regulations for online gaming has raised concerns about proposed restrictions on betting on certain sports and in-play wagering, with contributors warning these may push players towards unlicensed operators. The secondary regulations, published for comment in July, set out restrictions on certain bet types, such as win/loss markets for individual games and sets in tennis, and markets on fouls, throw-ins, corners and cards in football. Rory Raine, international development officer for bet365, warned that this could have “a detrimental effect on the attractiveness of the licensed offering” to the extent that customers may migrate to unlicensed sites offering such bet types.
 

Norway’s gambling regulator Lotteri-og stiftelsestilsynet (Lottstift) has warned newspapers that they are effectively carrying illegal gambling advertising if they include odds offered by unlicensed operators in articles. Lottstift said the issue had been highlighted by coverage of Norway's municipal elections, noting that 49 newspapers had recently included coverage of odds offered on whether citizens would vote for female majors in stories. As these operators do not hold a licence in Norway, Lottstift said, they are also not permitted to advertise their services in the national media. The regulator has therefore contacted newspapers across the country to inform them of the regulations so that they can take more effective action to block such operators from advertising.
 

An audit of the Polish gambling market has revealed that while the regulated gambling industry has grown rapidly following amendments to the country’s Gambling Act in 2017, it is still dwarfed by the illegal market. The Polish Supreme Audit Office (NIK) concluded that while oversight had been stepped up significantly, additional powers should be granted to the Ministry of Finance to crack down on increasingly sophisicated tactics being used to circumvent enforcement action in the market. The country's online betting market, comprising both legal and unlicensed activity, grew to an estimated PLN7.9bn (£1.63bn/€1.82bn/$2.02bn) for 2018, up from PLN5.0bn in 2015, according to the NIK. Over this period, amounts wagered via legal operators soared more than 600% to PLN3.88bn by 2018.
 

The Spanish gambling regulator (DGOJ) has said the gambling industry must develop voluntary advertising restrictions to combat a crisis driven by growing public concerns and political uncertainty. Guillermo Sanchez, deputy director of gambling regulation at the DGOJ, does not doubt that the gambling industry in Spain will continue to grow but is concerned that it is experiencing its greatest ever "reputation crisis". "A lot can be done. Regulation is coming which will absolutely be more restrictive for gambling advertising. We will happily enforce these rules but urge the industry to tackle advertising issues before any regulation is introduced," said Sanchez.
 

Licensed operators in Sweden remain concerned about the prevalence of unlicensed sites in the market following a meeting with regulator Spelinspektionen on Tuesday (17 September). Operators in attendance said that while the meeting was appreciated and beneficial on the whole, the issue of channelisation — ensuring players play with licensed operators rather than unlicensed — was insufficiently addressed. The meeting, which discussed issues such as anti money-laundering controls, responsible gambling, rules regarding underage betting and channelization, was intended to solve the tense atmosphere between operators and Swedish authorities, who have butted heads numerous times since the regulated market opened on 1 January.
 

The Swedish Gaming Authority (Spelinspektionen) has written to payment service providers warning them not to do business with unlicensed gambling operators targeting the country's regulated igaming market. The regulator said that having implemented the Gaming Act, which opened up the market to private online operators for the first time in January this year, it aimed to enhance player protection controls by challening users towards legal, controlled forms of gambling. By working with companies that had not secured a Swedish licence, it said, payment processors were undermining these efforts as well as violating the Gaming Act.
 

The Swiss Lottery and Betting Board has published its first blacklist of foreign gambling websites following a change to the law on online gambling. Over 60 foreign websitesexternal link have been blocked to Swiss gamblers. Last June, 73% of voters approved the overhaul of the country’s gambling law despite claims by opponents of government censorship. The law came into effect in January but blocking of foreign gambling websites only started in August.
 

The Gibraltar gambling industry has been planning for Brexit on the basis of the worst case scenario but concerns remain about the border with Spain in the event of no deal. Some of the biggest names in the sector are based in Gibraltar and employ more than 3,000 people in the territory, of whom 60 per cent are 'frontier workers', employees of any nationality who live in Spain and travel to work daily in Gibraltar. With no deal looking increasingly likely, there are fears those workers will be subject to long delays in their daily commute after October 31. Andrew Lyman, executive director of the Gibraltar government's gambling division, said: "Plainly there is now more focus and some angst around 'no-deal' planning and what that means at an individual level. Most operators have already planned on a worst-case scenario basis."
 

The Gambling Commission believes further improvements to the online self-exclusion system GamStop are needed before it becomes mandatory for all licensees to integrate with the solution. While the majority of UK licensees have partnered the system, the Commission said that more work must be done for signing up to GamStop to be a key licence condition. ‘’We welcome the establishment of GamStop and the ongoing steps they have been taking to continually develop and improve the scheme,” the Commission said of the solution. “We are pleased to see that a large number of people are already getting protection through signing up and we hear directly from people about the benefits it has provided."
 

As a new mandate of the European Union (EU) institutions begins, it seems appropriate to review the EU’s approach to online gambling in this Autumn edition of our Online Gambling Focus newsletter. Many of the concerns about online consumer protection in gambling are crossborder in nature and affect consumers regardless of where they live. But regulating a borderless online environment requires policies which are responsive, flexible, and borderless – that go beyond national borders to establish a more common European regulatory basis. These issues will be explored further in this edition and we're delighted to be joined by Dr Margaret Carran of the City University of London who gives her perspective on the regulatory situation for online gambling in the EU and the implications of this for good regulation and ensuring a safe and consistent online gambling environment.
 

At the end of the 1-year assessment period, EGBA met with the European Commission and the other signatories of the memorandum of understanding (MoU) on online advertising and intellectual property rights to review progress in reducing the placement of advertising on IPR-infringing websites and mobile applications, under the ‘follow the money’ approach to IPR enforcement. The signatory businesses and associations agreed that the MoU has contributed to minimise the placement of such advertising and work should continue on the MoU. The Commission will publish a full progress report later this year. During the meeting, the Commission also praised EGBA’s efforts, mentioning that in the first half of 2019 there has been a 12% drop in the volume of ads by major gambling brands on IPR-infringing websites.
 

The EU is to explore the creation of a central authority to crack down on money laundering activity after a series of high-profile scandals have underlined Europe’s weaknesses in preventing dirty cash from flowing through its banks. The bloc’s finance ministers are expected to formally mandate the European Commission to make recommendations on a new “independent” enforcement body with “direct powers,” according to a draft statement to be endorsed when they meet in December. The body’s mission would be to police financial institutions’ compliance with EU rules on customer due diligence and other safeguards. The proposal would mark a significant ramping up of Europe’s response to a wave of money-laundering scandals over the past two years that have revealed ways for criminals to exploit the EU banking system.
 

Europol and the International Olympic Committee (IOC) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to reinforce cooperation in the fight against corruption in sports. The agreements was signed during the annual International Forum for Sports Integrity, organised by the IOC in Lausanne, Switzerland. Corruption in sports degrades the efforts of athletes and the support of the public. It also brings important profits to organised crime groups which they then use to grow their other criminal activities such as drug trafficking, document fraud, money laundering and economic and financial crimes. To strengthen the global coalition against corruption in sports, in particular the manipulation of sport competitions, Europol reinforces its cooperation with the International Olympic Committee, one of the leading actors in the sport world.
 

Belgium’s biggest private gambling operators have voluntarily agreed to halt most of their advertising efforts but want the government to force the state-run lottery to follow their lead. This weekend, the De Tijd newspaper reported that the five members of the Belgian Association of Gaming Operators (BAGO) – the Ardent Group, Betfirst, Golden Palace, Napoleon Games and the Kindred Group’s Unibet brand – had agreed to stop advertising via radio, television, newspapers, magazines, bus shelters and outdoor billboards as of January 1, 2020. Excluding Belgium’s National Lottery operations, the five BAGO members are believed to control roughly two-thirds of Belgium’s gambling market.
 

The Czech Republic Ministry of Finance has defended its decision to introduce higher taxes on certain gambling activities, after a national newspaper claimed the increases would harm the country's land-based market. The Ministry said income from the higher taxes will help support its efforts to protect people from gambling-related harm. From January 2020, a new structure will split taxes into three tiers, according to how harmful the government perceives the activity to be. Gambling tax is currently set at 23% of gross gaming revenue (GGR,) with the exception of gaming machines, which are taxed at 35% of GGR. Lotteries, live games and bingo operators will be taxed at 30% of GGR, up from the current rate of 23%, while the rate for fixed odds betting will rise from 23% to 25%.
 

The Finnish Competition and Consumer Authority has called on Finland's state-owned, non-profit monopoly Veikkaus to take the problems associated with gambling seriously, and has recommended the firm introduce a number of changes to its operating procedures. Kirsi Leivo, Director-General of the authority, told Yle's MOT programme that Veikkaus' profits should be paid directly to the state, as this would be the simplest way to break Veikkaus' links with the organisations and projects currently funded by revenue from gambling. "If the money went to the state budget, this would offer a clear solution for the beneficiaries," Leivo said in an interview with MOT.
 

France has introduced new gambling regulations, including the creation of a new national gambling authority, L’autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ) to replace the current regulator, l’autorité nationale de régulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL), ahead of the privatisation of lottery monopoly La Française des Jeux (FDJ). Currently, online gambling in France is regulated by ARJEL, while casinos, horse racing in Paris and lottery games are regulated by the Ministry of the Interior and Ministry of the Economy and Finance. Under the new regulations, ANJ will act as a single body to oversee gambling in the country. “The National Gambling Authority (ANJ) will become the main player in the regulation of gambling in France,” the country’s Council of Ministers said.
 

As the Minister-Presidents of Germany's 16 federal states prepare to meet to discuss the future of gambling regulations, the German Sports Betting Association (DSWV) has urged a root-and-branch overhaul of the current framework. DSWV president Mathias Dahms said that with operators expected to adhere to the restrictive terms of the third amended State Treaty on Gambling until 30 June 2021, the market should be significantly expanded under the legislation that replaces it. Under the State Treaty, which was ratified in March, licence applications will be processed from January 2020. However, operators will be restricted to offering online sports betting, with no in-play, a €1,000 monthly spending limit imposed on players, as well as a 5% tax on turnver. Should its replacement fail to remove these restrictions, and legalise online casino games, the only beneficiaries would be unlicensed operators, with consumers put at risk, Dahms explained.
 

Greece’s parliament has passed a package of legislation designed to boost economic development in the country, which includes a bill reforming the country’s gambling laws. The gaming bill included in the Invest in Greece package will see operators permitted to continue offering Random Number Generator games, such as slots, something omitted from an earlier draft. This proposed prohibition of RNG games had proved particularly controversial, prompting operators to threaten a legal challenge against the ban. The final bill also lowers the licence fee to €3m, down from the original €5m, and sets a 35% gross revenue tax for licensees. A 20% corporation tax will also be applied before the 35% revenue tax is subtracted, in a move that strategic consultancy Regulus Partners said would effectively make legal avoidance of tax “impossible.”
 

Bookies will get €50,000 a-year relief from the 2 per cent tax levied on betting in the Republic. In a bid to aid small independent bookmakers, Minister for Finance Paschal Donohoe introduced a relief from betting duty of €50,000 a calendar year. The move means that bookmakers will not have to pay tax on the first €50,000 in wagers that they take in a year. Mr Donohoe added that the relief was subject to EU state aid rules. The department’s tax strategy group earlier this year suggested bringing in a relief of €2 million a year to help smaller independent bookmakers compete against bigger chains such as Paddy Power, Boylesports and Ladbrokes. Mr Donohoe doubled the betting tax to 2 per cent last year. It is expected to yield around €95 million in 2019.
 

Five of the leading online gaming operators in Latvia have signed an agreement aimed at strengthening responsible gambling practices in the Baltic state. The operators, Paf (Pafbet), Betsafe, Optibet, 11.lv and Feniksscasino, have pledged to improve their responsible gambling measures beyond what is currently required by Latvian law. The companies are all members of the Latvian Interactive Gambling Association (LiAB) and together claim a 90 per cent share of the Latvian online gaming market. "Among other things, we will introduce facilities for self-tests, deposit limits, the closing of specific game categories, proactive information on responsible gaming and a whole host of other measures,” said Paf Latvia manager Rihards Streikis.
 

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) is publishing a guidance note on the impact of the UK’s Exit from the European Union in consideration of the United Kingdom’s exit from the European Union. The contents of the guidance note relate solely to regulatory affairs within the remit of the MGA, and operators should also be aware of ulterior consequences resulting from Brexit, including but not limited to data protection, immigration, employment, duty, and copyright considerations. The contents of this guidance note are of particular importance to entities established in Malta and operating in the United Kingdom, or entities established in the United Kingdom providing services and supplies within Malta, and it also details transitory measures in place for operators to ensure readiness and avoid regulatory disruption.
 

Over half of Portugal’s online gamblers continue to bet with internationally licensed sites, despite their government’s effort to steer them to locally licensed options. On Monday, the Associação Portuguesa de Apostas e Jogos Online (APAJO) released the results of a national survey that showed 56% of 609 local online gamblers had made some form of wager with an internationally licensed online gambling site this year. That figure is significantly below a separate study by the Universidade Nova de Lisboa that found 75% of Portugual’s online gamblers had made a bet with an international site in 2018. That share was 10 points higher than a similar report covering 2017.
 

Spanish regulator Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) and tax agency la Agencia Tributaria (AEAT) have renewed their partnership and signed a new cooperation agreement. Under the new agreement, the DGOJ will have access to updated data on operators’ tax compliance, the payments they make to the AEAT and the payments and withholdings related to State Lottery prizes. AEAT, meanwhile, will receive DGOJ data related to gaming accounts, to be used to fight tax fraud. The DGOJ said the data will allow the directorate to better manage the game environment. The agreement follows the initial partnership signed between the two in 2014 to “establish a general framework of collaboration.”
 

Swedish gambling regulator Spelinspektionen has unveiled a new system for licensed operators to report suspected money laundering and terrorist financing. Scheduled to launch on 13 January 2020, goAML will replace the existing DAR system that operators currently use, with Spelinspektionen saying that the new platform will help increase the quality of reports filed with the police. The goAML platform will open for registration on 9 December and licensees can sign up ahead of the January launch date, after which they will be able to begin filing reports. Registration is subject to approval from the police, but the regulator said that the process should not take longer than two days.
 

Neil McArthur, chief executive of the UK Gambling Commission, has emphasised the need for standards to be raised among overseas gambling businesses targeting British consumers. Speaking at the ARQ Gaming Compliance Forum in Malta, McArthur highlighted three key strategic focus areas to drive the standards of the latter, stressing that “the MGA share our concerns”. This follows a study undertaken last year focusing on compliance standards of 123 online casino operators, which saw 45 told to submit an action plan to raise standards, 14 become the subject of further investigation, seven paid a total of £18m in penalty packages, five operators surrendered their licences and three PMLs were also given up.
 

According to recent figures released by GambleAware, UK operators Bet365, GVC Holdings and William Hill have again topped the list of donations received by the industry charity, for the period between 1 April 2019 – 30 September 2019. The charity had received £5.4m in pledges and donations for Q1 and Q2 of this year, however this does not include funds received through regulatory settlements. GVC Holdings, the umbrella group for Ladbrokes and Coral, had pledged £1.46m to the charity while William Hill was recognised for a pledge of £1m. Bet365 was also commended for a donation of £868,000 during the period.
 

One of the principles of our regulation is that gambling should be fair and open. Through our work we aim to maintain public confidence in the gambling industry. Among other things, we expect licence holders to: Conduct their business with integrity; Maintain adequate financial resources; Have due regard to the interests of consumers and treat them fairly. We are aware that, from time to time, gambling businesses leave the British market. This may be for a variety of reasons, ranging from insolvency to personal retirement. We are aware that businesses have been taking a variety of approaches to dealing with their consumers in these situations, and we want to make our expectations clear.
 

Looking back 10 years ago, most EU member states had either no regulations at all for online gambling or online gambling regulation was based on a monopoly model which only permitted state-owned entities to provided online gambling in that country. In 2009, 21 of the current EU member states had either monopolies or prohibitions, while only 7 EU member states had multi-license regimes to enable private online gambling companies to obtain a license to provide their services in that country. Fast forward to today and the situation has changed dramatically, with the overwhelming majority of EU member states now having adopted multi-license regimes. 26 EU member states have a multi-license regime, with only 1 EU member state (Finland) still retaining an exclusive monopoly model and 1 EU member state (Slovenia) having no online gambling regulations at all.
 

The European Council, on 21 November, adopted conclusions on combatting corruption in sport. The main aim of the conclusions is to suggest how the EU and its member states and the sports movement can contribute to achieving integrity and fairness in sport. They recognise that while corruption in sport is not a new phenomenon, there is no overall EU approach to anti-corruption measures in sport. Corruption is recognised in the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU) as one of the 'areas of particularly serious crimes with a cross-border dimension'. High profile corruption cases in recent years have shown the potential damage corruption can cause to the reputation of sport for integrity and fair play.
 

Problem gambling has replaced consumer protection as the main concern for regulators around the world according to new data issued by the International Association of Gaming Regulators (IAGR). Problem gambling is being tackled by 88% of the regulatory bodies who participated in the group’s new ‘Gambling Regulation – Global Developments 2018-19’ survey. That represents an increase from 82%, when the data was last compiled in 2017, and places it ahead of consumer protection on 86% (90% in 2017) at the top of the list. Fewer authorities are dealing directly with gambling addiction compared to two years ago, with the number falling from 59% to 54%. Those dealing with match-fixing has risen considerably from 38% to 45%. Other key insights from the report, based on data provided by 44 jurisdictions, include that number-based games like lotto are the most common form of gambling, followed by casinos, then betting.
 

Austria’s leading gambling trade group has called for an end to Casinos Austria’s monopoly in light of the political scandal currently engulfing the operator. The Austrian Association for Betting and Gambling (OVWG) has spoken out in response to the developing investigation into the relationship between Casinos Austria, its chief finance officer Peter Sidlo (pictured), who is also a Freedom Party of Austria (FPO) district councillor in Vienna, and shareholder Novomatic. It has been claimed that Sidlo’s appointment was linked to licence awards in Vienna. Sidlo and Novomatic deny any wrongdoing. Last week, Economic and Corruption Prosecutor's Office (WKStA) officers carried out further raids as part of their investigation following on from initial searches back in August.
 

Publishing its quarterly report for the second quarter of the year, the National Betting Authority of Cyprus has revealed a 14% drop in gross gaming revenue (GGR) for Class A (retail) and Class B (online) licensees. The report, which includes the publication of the financial results and quantitative data for the period April – June 2019, noted a tough trading period with retail-facing licensees taking the greatest hit. The combined comprehensive income for both Class A and Class B bookmakers showed a 4% increase between April-June 2019, reporting a combined figure of €176m compared to €169m in 2018. However, the retail licensees marked a decrease of 12% in comprehensive income compared to the same quarter of 2018. Online licensees reported an 18% jump in comprehensive income in comparison to Q2 2018, with figures recorded as €107m.
 

Czech finance minister Alena Schillerová hailed the effect of the country’s 2017 Gambling Act, and revealed that an exclusion register to block a range of individuals - both voluntarily and involuntarily - from gambling would launch next year. However, the country’s national drug policy coordinator has warned about the increase of online gambling in the Czech Republic, and suggested further controls may be needed. Speaking at the Czech national gambling conference that took place on 5 November in Prague, Schillerová said that the exclusion register would go launch in mid-2020. This will not only include players that self-exclude, but also those on welfare, those who are bankrupt, people who have received treatment for gambling addiction as well as players that voluntarily excluded. Anyone listed would be unable to gamble either online or in person.
 

The state-owned gambling monopoly Veikkaus has promised to make broad changes to its operations following public criticism of its practices. The remedial measures it is now committing to include slashing marketing of its games of chance, trimming its network of slot machines and introducing a system of compulsory identification for most of its products. Veikkaus confirmed the changes following a series of stumbles, including a disastrous marketing campaign that caused the public to question the firm's strategy.
 

France’s Agence des participations de l’État (APE) has hailed the success of the initial public offering of gaming giant La Française des Jeux (FDJ), which could generate proceeds of €1.89bn (£1.62bn/$2.09bn) for the state. Up to 99,320,000 shares in the business are set to be sold, representing approximately 52% of FDJ’s total share capital. This comprised 40,172,148 shares which were sold to individuals and retailers making up FDJ’s sales network, representing 40.5% of all shares sold and generating proceeds of approximately €712m. Shares were sold to these entities priced at €19.50 each, including a 2% discount for retail investors.
 

The body responsible for processing German online sports betting licence applications has once again stressed that operators must shut down any online casino or poker products if they are to operate legally in the market. The Regional Council of Darmstadt, representing the state of Hesse, added that any operator that continued to target German players without applying for a licence, or fail to adhere to the terms of the State Treaty on Gambling, would face severe consequences. In an open letter to the industry, the Council said it had been forced to speak out as a result of press statements calling for a delay in the licensing process.
 

The Gambling Research Centre (Forschungsstelle Glücksspiel) at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart has issued a series of recommendations to update German gambling laws, including imposing taxes on unlicensed operators, and legalising, but strictly controlling, online casino games. The Centre's position paper, released ahead of a meeting of state lawmakers in December, also called for a new, federal regulatory authority to be established. “There is agreement that the enforcement against illegal providers on the Internet needs to be strengthened,” the Centre said. It pointed out that offshore operators were currently able to bypass any gross revenue or turnover taxes imposed on licensed operators, or only a sales tax on revenue.
 

The Invest in Greece package of economic reforms, which includes an overhaul of the country's gambling regulations, has passed into law after receiving approval from president Prokopis Pavlopoulos. The bill — passed by the country’s parliament last week — will see operators permitted to continue offering Random Number Generator games, such as slots, had looked set to be prohibited under a previous draft of the law. In addition, the bill includes a €3m licence fee for online betting, down from the previously suggested €5m. However, operators will have to pay a €2m fee, on top of the €3m, to offer other products such as casino games.
 

Horse Racing Ireland (HRI) is examining the option of selling off all or part of Tote Ireland to private interests. The State licensed tote has been in operation for almost 90 years, with Tote Ireland a wholly-owned subsidiary of HRI, Irish racing’s semi-State ruling body, and all profits reinvested in the sport. However, tote turnover has been in freefall in recent years, struggling in a radically changed betting landscape dominated by online firms and exchanges. Last year total tote betting dropped by 33.3 per cent to €69.2 million. A lot of that was due to a decision by the Israeli government to ban betting into pools but on-course turnover also fell, by 7.7 per cent to just €10.7 million.
 

The Regulator of the National Lottery threatened to withhold €100,000 from the operator last year because of a series of breaches of its licence, including allowing 19 “vulnerable” users to play after they had asked to be banned. Correspondence released following a decision by the Office of the Information Commissioner reveals that the regulator accused Premier Lotteries Ireland (PLI), the current operator, of “compromising the integrity and image of the National Lottery” because of the “seriousness of the breaches”.
 

Tightening control of Italy’s online gambling marketplace, the 5Star-DP coalition government seeks to reduce the number of incumbents participating in the market by 2023. Attached to 5Star-DP’s first Budget Law decree, the coalition government seeks to reduce the total number of Italian online gambling licences to 50, from its current 85 concessions. The proposed revision has been communicated by Italy’s ADM customs and monopolies agency, the government department which maintains regulatory oversight of the gambling industry. The ADM has been tasked with leading a new 2023 licensing framework for online gambling incumbents, who will be charged €2 million for acquiring or renewing their digital concessions.
 

Italy’s radical tightening of its gambling regulations, underscored by a controversial advertising ban, is slowly smothering many foreign online bookmakers with licences in Italy. According to official Ministry of Economy data, a number of well-known international brands have become little more than so-called "zombie bookmakers", trading in near obscurity with little hope of improving their fortunes. Two of those, Betway and Marathonbet, appear to be direct victims of Luigi Di Maio, leader of the ruling Five Star Movement and ghost-writer of the "Dignity Decree" that ushered in the ad ban. After the end of its contract with football club SS Lazio last December, Marathonbet chose to switch to Spanish team Seville after a three-year deal with the Rome team was terminated after just six months by the sponsorship ban.
 

Latvia’s parliament has approved proposals to raise certain land-based gaming taxes in the country, including the measures in the 2020 budget. Slot machines, roulettes, cards and dice games will all be impacted by the new laws, which were proposed in October and will come into effect from 1 January 2020. The flat fee levied on each slot machine in operation in Latvia will increase from €4,164 (£3,566/$4,602) to €5,172. In addition, operators of roulette and table games will have to pay an annual fee of €28,080 per gaming table they operate, up from the current fee of €23,400.
 

The Lithuania Gambling Supervisory Authority is to lobby the Vilnius Regional Administrative Court for the power to block access and payments to unlicensed gambling sites, as it looks to step up efforts to tackle illegal gambling. Should the regulator be granted the powers, it will be able to issue binding orders to have internet service providers (ISPs) block unlicensed sites and force payment processors to cease all transactions with these businesses. This would bring the Authority in line with the Lithuanian Radio and Television Commission (LRTK), which can already order ISPs to prevent citizens from accessing illegal content under the Public Information and the Copyright and Related Rights Acts.
 

Italy's Director of Customs and Monopolies (‘Agenzia Dogane e Monopoli’), Benedetto Mineo, welcomed and met with the Head of the Maltese Delegation and the Chief Executive Officer of the Malta Gaming Authority, Heathcliff Farrugia, at the Agency’s Headquarters in Piazza Mastai, Rome, Italy. The meeting, which also featured the Heads of both Administrations’ Gambling, Anti-Fraud and International Relations departments, is part of a strategy to strengthen the collaboration between these two entities which are responsible for overseeing the supervision and regulation of legal gambling. In particular, the discussion focused mainly on existing legislation and regulations relating to both land-based and online gaming found in the two jurisdictions.
 

The Malta Gaming Authority (herein after the ‘Authority’) is publishing a guidance note to shed light on how it exercises the discretion afforded to it by law in the selection of the nature and scope of enforcement measures it takes when a breach of law is committed.
 

Dutch gambling regulator the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has announced that the Netherlands’ regulated online gaming market is now likely to open from 1 July, 2021 - six months after previously stated. In a update to the Dutch parliament, Minister for Legal Protection Sander Dekker said that the legislation was now expected to be implemented on 1 January, 2021. From this point the KSA will be able to process licence applications, with the market to open six months later. Originally, the Remote Gaming Act was due to come into force from 1 July, 2020, according to the KSA. Before it can be implemented, secondary regulations - that were published in June - must be passed, and licensing conditions, for which information was made available earlier this month, must be finalised.
 

Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has released more details about applying for new online gambling licences in the country, saying operators will be able to submit applications as soon as new legislation comes into force. The Netherlands is due to open a regulated online gambling market in January 2021 after the Dutch Senate in February voted to pass the Netherlands’ Remote Gambling Act. The Dutch government aims to bring secondary regulations governing the market into force from 1 July 2020, subject to final approval from the Ministry of Justice and Security. The KSA said while it cannot confirm when the Act will come into effect, it said it is keen to update potential applicants about process. This way, it said, operators will be aware of what they will be required to file and pay as soon as they are permitted to do so.
 

The Norwegian government will consider transferring the country’s horse racing betting monopoly from national tote Norsk Rikstoto to national lottery Norsk Tipping when the former’s rights to organise wagering on racing expire at the end of 2021. The Ministry of Culture and the Ministry of Agriculture and Food will jointly carry out the assessment. Currently, Norsk Risktoto operates pari-mutuel horse racing betting in the country. However, the body's concession to run wagering, which started in 2016, expires on 31 December, 2021. The government will consider handing control solely to Norsk Tipping, or having both bodies organise the sport jointly.
 

Spanish online gambling trade association Jdigital has communicated that it has reached consensus amongst its partners, who will adhere to new advertising/marketing ‘control measures’ strengthening its code of conduct. Jdigital’s new provisions have been approved by the DGOJ’s joint committee on gambling standards, conduct and activities, a research body monitoring the behaviour and ethics of licensed gambling enterprises operating across Spain’s autonomous regions. Updating stakeholders, Jdigital details that it new ‘auto-control’ measures will be enforced across TV, radio and digital advertising verticals, within a period of two months. Securing industry-wide consensus, Jdigital sanctions that DGOJ licensed operators will stop all marketing activities which engage ‘active athletes’ to promote gambling services.
 

Branschföreningen för Onlinespel (BOS), Sweden’s trade association for online gambling, has hit out at the national government’s approach to illegal gaming activities, saying imposing certain restrictions on licensed operators will allow illegal sites to increase their market share. This week, the Swedish Gaming Authority (Spelinspektionen) published figures showing that the share of licensed gambling in Sweden is between 85 and 87%, with the remaining share taken up by the black and grey market. BOS noted that this is below Spelinspektionen’s previous estimate, and it is also lower than the government’s channelisation target that at least 90% of the gambling in Sweden takes place on licensed platforms.
 

The UK Gambling Commission and the Swedish Gambling Authority (Spelinspektionen) have announced details of a new Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), with the aim of enhancing cooperation between the two regulatory bodies. Under the agreement, which came into effect on 11 November, the Commission and Spelinspektionen will work closely to share best practice on areas such as regulatory policies and procedures. This will include promoting a common understanding of legitimate interests, engaging on matters of mutual policy and operational interest, as well as the provision of operation assistance. The two organisations will cooperate on general policy and supervisory issues, matters relevant to remote gambling operators, measures related to anti-money laundering and counter terrorist financing, as well as betting, gaming and other transactional data.
 

The Gambling Commission has hit back at a group of UK MPs who described the Commission as “not fit for purpose” and said its inaction has allowed operators to “prey” on vulnerable gamblers. The regulator responded after the Gambling Related Harm All-Party Parliamentary Group (GRH APPG) released its interim report on online gambling, in which it accused the regulator of failing to consider changes to rules on online stakes and prizes despite looking at other aspects of regulation. However, the Gambling Commission disputed that claim, pointing to a recent speech given by chief executive Neil McArthur (pictured) in which he outlined the body’s plans to consider online stakes as well as VIPs, ad tech, safer product design and a single customer view.
 

HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC) has released its latest UK Betting and Gaming Statistics report, which revealed that the government’s gambling tax take in the six months ending September 30 hit £1.463b, up a modest 0.5% from the same period last year. While the total haul is virtually unchanged, the individual gaming segments’ contributions to that total have shifted dramatically since April 1, when the UK government boosted the Remote Gaming Duty (RGD, aka online casino revenue tax) from 15% to 21%. From April 1 to September 30, HMRC’s RGD haul totaled £332.4m, up from £263.9m in the same period last year, a 26% year-on-year increase. As a result of this change, online casino taxes accounted for 22.7% of HMRC’s total gambling haul, up from 18.1% in the same period last year.
 

Europe’s online gambling market grew 11% – from €20 billion gross gaming revenue (GGR) in 2017 to €22.2 billion GGR in 2018 – according to market data published on 11 December by the European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) in partnership with H2 Gambling Capital. The data confirms the ongoing popularity of online gambling in the EU. According to the new data, covering the 2018 market year, EGBA members had 16.5 million active customers and generated €5.41 billion in online gambling GGR – accounting for 24% of the total EU online gambling market. The annual data collection includes data on the overall EU online gambling market and EGBA member companies – including information about their market value, payments, games, sports, customers, licensing and compliance. EGBA represents bet365, Betsson Group, GVC Holdings PLC, Kindred Group PLC, MRG, and ZEAL Network, who combined had a total of 121 online gambling licenses across 20 EU countries.
 

With several countries adopting new measures related to gambling advertising over the past year, it seems appropriate that advertising should be the topic for this Winter edition of our Online Gambling Focus newsletter. As well as enabling companies to highlight their products and offers to potential or existing customers, a major benefit of gambling advertising is that it directs consumers towards those gambling operators who are licensed in a given EU country. Having said that, there are risks that advertising exposes minors and other vulnerable groups to gambling. The challenge is how to strike the right balance: allowing advertising which is responsible, sufficiently directs betting consumers to the regulated gambling websites and does not entice problem gamblers or young people to gamble. In this issue we are pleased to have contributions from Prof. Mark Griffiths, of Nottingham Trent University, who elaborates on research in this area, and William Fenton, from the European Sponsorship Association (ESA), who gives his perspective on the role of sponsorship of sports.
 

Austrian lawmakers have laid the groundwork for sweeping investigatory powers to be given to a new parliamentary committee to tackle a corruption scandal that has rocked Vienna’s political establishment. Austria’s WKStA, the prosecutor for economic crimes and corruption, is investigating 11 individuals in connection with bribery, illicit political funding and the possible promise of changing the country’s gambling law to benefit one of Austria’s biggest companies and its billionaire owner Johann Graf. A special sitting of Austria’s National Council on 26 November saw angry testimony from across the political spectrum as parliamentarians traded accusations of corruption and slander in relation to the WKStA probe. Eduard Müller, Austria’s finance minister, appeared in front of the chamber to give reassurances about his own ministry’s probity and willingness to co-operate with inquiries.
 

Jannie Haek, Chief Executive of Belgium’s national lottery operator ‘Loterie Nationale’, has been criticised for commenting on the potential privatisation of a state-owned asset. Belgium media had questioned Haek on whether the Loterie would replicate the privatisation of French gambling operator Française des Jeux (FDJ), which grabbed international business headlines by becoming one of Europe’s most successful IPOs in 2019. Offering his personal opinion, Haek stated that a ‘part-privatisation’ of Belgium’s national lottery mirroring FDJ movements could be a ‘beautiful opportunity for Belgian investors’. Haek’s comment would be criticised by outgoing Belgium Deputy PM Alexander De Croo of the liberal Open VLD party, who reminded Loterie’s CEO that he was in charge of a government asset and not a private enterprise.
 

The District Court for Prague 1 has ruled in favour of the Czech Republic government in a long-running legal battle with land-based casino operator Casino Kartá? over online roulette. The case dates back to 2006, when the operator lobbied the Ministry of Finance for the right to operate online roulette in the country. This request was refused, though online gaming regulations were then passed in 2016, and the market opened in 2017. The refusal prompted Casino Kartá? to file a lawsuit against the Ministry, demanding it repay CZK6.9bn (£227.7m/€270.3m/$299.4m) in estimated lost revenue, plus interest. The case had previously been dismissed by the District Court, noting that the lost revenue was totally hypothetical.
 

The Danish government is to increase the tax paid by the country’s licensed igaming operators to 28% of gross gaming revenue, claiming that this will ultimately raise DKK150m (£17.1m/€20.1m/$22.3m) in new tax revenue. The tax hike, which will become effective from 2021, will see the tax rate increased from 20% of GGR, which has been in place since the Danish regulated online gambling market opened in 2012. For betting and gaming, the government noted that the online tax for betting and gaming was lower than that imposed on land-based casinos and gaming machines. Casinos pay a 45% GGR tax, and a further 30% on revenue above DKK4m. Gaming machines, meanwhile, are taxed at 41% of GGR, plus 30% on revenue over DKK4,000 for restaurant-based machines, and the same levy on revenue over DKK250,000 in gaming machine halls.
 

Danish gambling regulator Spillemyndigheden has announced a series of updates to its online casino certification, with deposit limits set to become mandatory from 1 January, 2020. From that date, it will become mandatory for customers to set a monthly, weekly or daily deposit limit before they can gamble. These changes were first put forward in a draft executive order published in January this year. Alongside a range of new controls related to gambling advertising, namely limits on how much a player may spend and wager to be eligible for a bonus offer, licensees were also required to provide information on help for problem gamblers, and link to the country's self-exclusion database ROFUS.
 

France’s Senate has passed a budget bill for 2020, including an amendment to calculate gambling tax based on gross gaming revenue (GGR) rather than turnover. The bill will now be passed to the National Assembly, where the amendments must be ratified before the budget can become law. Due to shift away from the turnover-based model, the tax rates will change. The tax on horse race betting will come to 19.9% of GGR, for sports betting the rate will be 33.8%, and for online poker 36.7%. In addition, social security payments will also be based on revenue rather than turnover, resulting further changes to rates. For horse racing, this will become a 6.8% GGR levy, for sports betting, 10.7% and for online poker, 4.1%.
 

The European Commission has opened an in-depth investigation to assess whether the special tax treatment of public casinos operators in Germany is in line with EU State aid rules. In a separate decision, the Commission has also opened an in-depth investigation into specific measures adopted in North Rhine-Westphalia with regard to the public casinos operator active in that region. In Germany, public casinos operators (Spielbankunternehmen) are subject to a specific tax regime that replaces a series of otherwise applicable general taxes, in particular corporate, income and trade taxes. The Commission has received several complaints from companies active in the gambling sector in relation to certain aspects of this specific tax regime as well as an alleged guarantee for public casinos operators to remain profitable. The formal investigation aims at clarifying whether this specific tax regime entails an unjustified economic advantage for the public casinos operators in the form of a lower tax burden in comparison with the normal tax rules.
 

The Minister for the Interior in the German state of Hesse has claimed no operator has filed an application for a federal sports betting licence, warning that companies will face immediate action if they continue to operate without certification. Minister Peter Beuth said that operators would be expected to temporarily cease offering sports betting until their licence application has been processed by the Regional Council of Darmstadt, the state body that will oversee the process. While Beuth pointed out that the Council has been accepting permits “for months”, no operator has filed its application to date. Operators have until the end of the year to file these applications. “I therefore urgently warn operators that from January 2020, sports betting is subject to authorisation, and there will be no more toleration [of unlicensed offerings],” Beuth said.
 

The Government has been forced to change its new gambling laws to allow bingo hall operators pay bigger prize money. The new legislation had proposed that prize money should not exceed 50pc of the proceeds from entry fees. However, the Government was forced into an embarrassing climb down - and last night supported an Opposition amendment to the legislation that will allow prize money to be up to 75pc of takings. The amendment was tabled by Sinn Féin TD Martin Kenny and supported by Independent TD Denis Naughten. The vote came after Minister of State David Stanton had insisted he would not change the legislation. However, the Government ultimately supported Mr Kenny’s amendment. The key aim of the legislation was to ensure bingo operators, which are operating on behalf charities, give a minimum of 25pc of their proceeds to the charitable organisations.
 

Latvia’s regulated online gambling market continues to enjoy double-digit growth as the government prepares to implement payment-blocking of unauthorized online competition. Figures recently released by the Lotteries and Gambling Supervisory Inspection of Latvia (IAUI) show state-licensed gambling operators generated combined revenue of €237.1m in the nine months ending September 30, a 12.2% rise over the same period last year. Over €171m of this sum came via gambling machines, a 9% rise over the same period last year, while gaming tables were up less than 3% to €12.7m. Both verticals are facing significant tax hikes comes January 1 as the government puts the squeeze on the sector.
 

Despite remaining committed to Malta the iGaming European Network (iGen) said it looked forward to the swift implementation of the Moneyval report, the recommendations from the Council of Europe and the “satisfactory conclusion” of the independent investigation into the murder of journalist Daphne Caruana Galizia. In a statement on Monday iGen said that the extraordinary events happening in Malta over the last few years, accumulating in the turbulent past two weeks were of “grave and growing concern for the iGaming industry operating internationally and based in Malta." “Like many others, our Industry thrives on stability and demands high standards in rule of law of the institutions that govern the countries in which we operate,” Network said.
 

The Dutch Lower House has today adopted a motion calling for a ban on broadcasted gambling ads between 06:00 and 21:00. Lottery advertising and simple mentions of sponsorships during broadcasts will be exempt from this rule. A motion intended to give sports associations a veto over which of their sporting events operators can offer bets on has been amended and will be voted on this Thursday. Similarly, a motion requesting that no role models and influencers under 25 are allowed to be featured in gambling advertising has been temporarily withdrawn and may – after being amended – also receive a vote on Thursday. At this point, it appears all but certain that both of these motions will be able to find majority support in their amended forms.
 

Ladies and gentlemen, Let me start by thanking Willem van Oort for inviting me to speak here today and congratulate him with his great sense of timing as this afternoon there will be a vote on ten Parliamentary motions concerning gambling legislation. In my opinion we could expect a majority for the motion concerning the extension of the timeslot for commercials. The Kansspelautoriteit, or Ksa, aims to be a visible and transparent organisation, so I'm always happy to make use of opportunities like this breakfast meeting here in Amsterdam. I'll be filling you in on the latest developments surrounding the implementation of the Remote Gambling Act, particularly regarding the licence application many of you will be submitting.