Henrik Tjärnström: “No indication” that Kindred faces Dutch ban

Kindred Group CEO Henrik Tjärnström has reassured investors that the operator is unlikely to face a two-year suspension from operating in the Dutch egaming market.

Tjärnström was speaking at Kindred’s Q4 results presentation in the wake of a Dutch parliamentary debate on the country’s Remote Gaming Bill, where Dutch Minister of Justice Sander Dekker confirmed he would temporarily ban operators that fall foul of the KSA’s “prioritisation” criteria.

Dekker singled out operators using Dutch domain names, Dutch-focused advertising and the iDeal payment method as “cowboys”, and suggested a cooling off period of up to two years for offenders.

But Tjärnström insisted yesterday that Kindred has had “no indication” it would be implicated and pointed towards other European markets where similar overtures have been made in the past.

“We have seen these kind of discussions in other markets at the same stage of where this process is right now,” said Tjärnström.

“It was talked about in Denmark but it didn’t happen in the end and it hasn’t really happened in any of the other European markets.

“I don’t want to tempt fate or say that it won’t happen in the Netherlands, but we have not got any indication so far that we are at risk of such a thing happening.

“We have been working very closely with regulators and stakeholders in the Netherlands over the last seven years, especially to take the process to where it is now.

“We have been compliant with the prioritisation and we believe it is a good relationship and a good opportunity for the future,” he added.

Kindred CEO Henrik Tjärnström

Kindred is one of the largest online operators in the Netherlands and analysts were keen to assess the impact on the firm should it be excluded from one of its key markets, with Holland thought to account for approximately 10% of total revenues.

Tjärnström was questioned three separate times on the issue, adding: “We are already [compliant] according to the prioritisation that were starting to be put in place from 2012 onwards.

“Things like no online advertising, no affiliates, and no sites in Dutch, and also last week when iDeal was added so these are criteria that have been put in place.

“In our opinion, we have not been targeting Dutch customers but of course we cannot guarantee that Dutch customers have not been exposed to our brands.

“We have been complying with the protocols laid forward by the regulator and we have a good dialogue with them, as well as confidence that we have been compliant with what they put forward,” he added.