Regulation round-up 7 July 2015
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (1 July to 7 July 2015)
Betfair lines-up Romania entry as first operators receive licence
Operator understood to be ready to comply with country’s back tax demand in order to meet licensing requirements
Betfair will meet Romania’s back tax requirement in order to obtain a licence for the recently re-regulated country, eGaming Review understands.
According to a source in Romania, Betfair had agreed in principle to pay the back tax, while other major operators remain in the process of calculating whether or not payment of the retrospective levy is commercially viable.
The news comes as the first batch of Romanian operating licences were last week handed out by the National Office for Gambling (ONJN), with Stanleybet, NetBet and Winmasters all in receipt of the new permit.
In May Romania’s government voted in favour of a ‘back tax’ amendment which requires operators seeking a licence in the country to return 20% of revenues derived from the country since 26 December 2010.
Poland to push through online amendment
Poland’s government is set to push through a major amendment to its Gambling Act just weeks ahead of the inauguration of the country’s new president.
Proposed modifications to the amendment, which will open up the Polish market to foreign operators should they open a physical office in Poland and meet other requirements, had previously been delayed in order for it to be debated in the upper and lower houses of the country’s parliament.
But eGR understands a vote on the amendment, scheduled for 8 July, will likely pass and once signed into law by the president, will become binding within 14 days of publication.
Seven days in regulation:
Romanian regulator publishes first egaming blacklist
Romania’s gambling regulator has published its first egaming blacklist just days after issuing the country’s first-ever licences to a handful of online gambling operators.
The 48-strong list of “unauthorised gaming” URLs has appeared on the regulator’s site, with a note explaining that operators will only be removed if they pay a taxes based on their revenues earned since 26 December 2010.
Sites listed include several of TitanBet’s dot.com domains, Bodog.eu, AllStarSlots.com and various dot.eu and dot.ag URLs.
PokerStars to be “first in line” for Portugal licence
PokerStars plans to be among the “first in line” to apply for a licence in the re-regulating Portuguese market, the operator confirmed to eGR.
The poker giant said it supported the local regulation of online poker and had asked its affiliates to stop marketing to players in Portugal ahead of the licensing process planned for later this year.
“We fully expect to apply for a licence in Portugal so we can provide a fun, safe and competitive environment for Portuguese consumers to enjoy online poker,” Michael Josem, PokerStars head of public relations, told eGR.
Playtech acquisition target “confident” of regulatory clearance
Playtech’s deal to acquire CFD trading company Plus500 moved a step closer after the firm said it had returned to “business as usual” following the unfreezing of thousands of accounts suspended due to anti-money laundering (AML) concerns.
The firm said most of its 13,499 UK accounts have now been re-opened after the Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) told it to re-verify each customer’s identity after an earlier review found that Plus500’s AML checks weren’t up to the required standard.
Plus500, which was also forced to stop on-boarding new customers, was required to appoint a ‘skilled person’ to ensure the steps taken by the firm would address the issues raised and sent a report documenting their findings to the FCA last month.
Italy boosted by casino and sportsbook growth
The expansion of Italy’s online gaming market continues to be driven by growth in casino and sportsbook with gross gaming revenues (GGR) for the two verticals increasing by 32% and 22% respectively in May.
According to figures seen by eGR, Italy’s online casino GGR increased by almost a third year-on-year to 26.6m during the month as the market continues to feel the benefits of recent efforts to curb unlicensed activity.
And sportsbook also enjoyed a strong May with GGR up by more than a fifth to 21.3m, during what was a busy final month of the domestic football season.