Swiss gaming act passes final hurdle as complaints dismissed

Switzerland’s new money gaming act (MGA) will take effect from January 2019, following the dismissal of complaints over violations of constitutional law in the referendum on the issue earlier this year.

In June, Swiss citizens voted 72.9% in favour of adopting the new act, which restricts egaming to those operators who have a land-based presence in Switzerland. The MGA gives local Swiss casino operators exclusivity in applying for egaming licences for six years, barring all international operators.

Also, being considered are so-called “good reputation” proposals would stop partnerships between Swiss casino operators and any provider who has had dealings in the Swiss market in the past five years.

In addition, the act requires Swiss ISP providers to block international sites, with the ISPs being compensated for doing so. The regulations concerning ISP blocking will come into effect from July 2019.

Following the vote, complaints were made by the Swiss PiratenParty over a video released by the Federal Chancellory and press releases made by Swisslos and Loterie Romande.

The video explains the process and issues being considered as part of the referendum, while the press releases were both concerning political support from provincial authorities for the measures.

PiratenParty claimed that these messages demonstrated clear bias and were not objective publications as required by Swiss voting laws.

In all three cases, implications that they were biased against the vote and therefore unconstitutional in nature were dismissed by Switzerland’s Federal Supreme Court. In the wake of the ruling, the Swiss Federal Council has agreed to fully adopt the MGA, putting it into force from January 2019.