Regulation round-up 9 January 2018
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (2 January to 9 January 2018)
Gambling Commission launches investigation into 17 casino firms for AML failings
The UK Gambling Commission has launched investigations into 17 online casino firms for failings in their AML and social responsibility processes, EGR Intel has learned.
The regulator wrote to firms, saying it was also considering putting five operators’ licences under review due to the “serious nature” of the failings.
The action comes after the Commission carried out a recent compliance assessment on the remote casino sector.
The regulator said it found companies failing to carry out sufficient AML checks, failing to do due diligence on customers and their source of funds, and failing to intervene when customers showed signs of problem gambling.
Senet Group backs problem gambling levy
Charity joins RGA in supporting a statutory charge on operators, but warns of risks in implementation
The Senet Group has tentatively backed the introduction of a statutory levy on gambling operators to help fund treatment for problem gambling.
The issue of problem gambling and funding for support was brought up on the Radio 4 show You and Yours, when GambleAware chair Kate Lampard said the voluntary donations that currently funds the charity were not sufficient.
Lampard said GambleAware was receiving about 80% of the funds it needed, with some firms sending “derisory” contributions of as little as 1p.
The charity fell £5m short of its £13m industry contributions target last year.
Operators welcome new Italian horseracing tax
Italian operators have hailed a new tax rate for horseracing betting in the country that could help reinvigorate the sector.
Horseracing bets were previously taxed on a turnover basis, but a new law, active from 1 January 2018, means taxes on the sport will now come from gross gaming revenue (GGR), set at 43% for retail bets and 47% for online.
“Horse betting has always been part of the Italian tradition, but a turnover-based tax regime had led to its rapid decline,” said DLA Piper lawyer Giulio Coraggio on his blog.
SNAITECH, one of the biggest horseracing operators in Italy, hailed the changes, with CEO Fabio Schiavolin saying: “This [change] is the first concrete step for the reform of the sector that we have been talking about for many years.”
Spain to issue poker liquidity licences in January
The Spanish gambling regulator (DGOJ) has signed a resolution to enable operators to offer shared poker liquidity with France, Portugal and Italy from mid-January.
A DGOJ statement said licences for shared liquidity would depend on operators meeting certain marketing and technical conditions.
“The effective implementation of this framework in Spain, after the one in France, opens the possibility for operators to offer tables with players from both countries starting in the coming weeks,” the DGOJ statement said.
“The possibility of liquidity with players from other jurisdictions, through environments that are safe for Spanish users, increases the variety and innovation and therefore the consumer choices, reinforcing the regulated online gambling market and with it its social sustainability.”