Regulation round-up 13 January 2015
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (7 January to 13 January 2015)
GBGA tax hearing faces delay
Legal challenge to UK Treasury’s implementation of a 15% Point of Consumption tax unlikely to be heard until the spring
The Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association’s (GBGA) bid to overturn the UK’s Point of Consumption tax will be delayed by at least a couple months.
Last month the GBGA was successful in securing a judicial review of the UK Treasury’s decision to implement a 15% levy on offshore operators’ UK-derived profits, with a hearing said to have been pencilled in for early January.
However, due to court commitments, the case is now likely to be delayed until the spring time with March or April now thought to be a more probable timeframe for the case to be heard.
“We anticipate that the court will hear this matter later in the year and look forward to presenting our arguments at that time,” a spokesperson for the GBGA told eGR.
Munich court fines player for gambling online
A German court has found a man guilty of “illicit online gambling” over play on an unnamed casino site, and ordered him to repay 63k in winnings as well as a 2k fine in what is a worrying development for the egaming industry in Germany.
Earlier this month, the District Court of Munich published a decision reached in September last year that found an unnamed 25-year old guilty of illicit gambling activities, arguing that he had breached section 285 of Germany’s Criminal Code.
The case represents the first time a decision has been made against a customer and speaking to eGR Martin Arendts, an egaming lawyer at German legal firm Arendts Anwalte, said that until now section 285 had been seen as “merely a symbolic criminal offence”.
Seven days in launches and sign-ups:
Portuguese online gaming bill inches closer
Portugal’s plan to implement a regulated online gaming framework has overcome one of its final hurdles after the European Commission said it was free to pass its bill into law despite concerns over its compatibility with European law.
The framework is on track to be implemented by the summer, with Portugal’s Office of the Inspection of Games previously setting out a H1 2015 launch date.
In September the Portuguese government sent its draft bill to the Commission as part of a procedural three-month inspection, however, this period was extended by one month after the Commission issued Portugal with a detailed opinion highlighting potential breaches of EU law, the details of which are confidential.
Denmark to amend licence fee and tax structure
Denmark has laid out plans to amend its licensing costs and taxation periods by the end of the year.
The country’s political parties came to an agreement over a number of amendments to legislation and a new draft law containing the changes is expected to be published later this month.
If the bill is passed in the spring, it should come into force in either July 2015 or January 2016.
GB regulator in compact talks with New Jersey
Great Britain’s Gambling Commission has held talks with regulators in New Jersey about pooling online poker liquidity between the two jurisdictions.
New Jersey Division of Gaming Enforcement (DGE) director David Rebuck revealed talks between the pair had taken place last year in an open a letter but said that “no compacts have been entered” to date.
While the Gambling Commission refused to comment specifically on talks with the DGE, it did reveal it had held discussions with a number of regulators regarding the potential to pool liquidity.
Unibet free bets ads “misleading”, ASA rules
Unibet has been reprimanded by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) over three “misleading” free bet adverts it ran on Facebook and Google.
The adverts were promoting a sign-up offer for new players, with Unibet offering to “cover the risk” of their first bet up to the value of £20.
Text in the first Facebook post said: “Will Man City beat Liverpool? Join Unibet for a £20 Risk Free Bet on today’s game! Manchester City v Liverpool £20 Risk Free Bet.”