WEBMASTER WORLD
10% levy on the profit on those bets where
that profit exceeds £500,000 a year.
GREECE
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting and lottery.
Operator Type: All products are
exclusively reserved for the monopoly
providers although 24 transitional
licences for private operators remain
active, with all products permitted.
Status: The enabling regulations
that implement a Greek online
gambling licensing regime are yet to
be implemented. In 2012, a “transition
period” commenced whereby the Greek
government granted 24 transitional
licences to operators, enabling them to
keep transacting with Greek residents.
The fate of the 24 licences is still unclear,
although a continued delay to the
implementation of the legislation has led
to the EC sending a letter of enquiry to
the Greek authorities at the beginning of
2017 to question the lack of development
in the remote gambling sector.
HUNGARY
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker,
casino, bingo and lottery.
Operator Type: Only the state
monopolies (Szerencsejáték Zrt. and
Magyar Lóversenyfogadást-SzervezőKft)
and local concession companies can
apply for a licence.
Status: Amendments to Hungarian
gambling law came into force on 1
October 2015 which allow only two
land-based casinos to hold remote
casino concessions. The regulator has
since issued fines against unlicensed
operators who continue to target the
market, a number of which have been
challenged by operators. In June 2017,
the CJEU delivered its ruling in such a
case which concerned two ISP blocking
orders against one operator’s websites.
The ruling determines that Hungary’s
gambling regime to be incompatible with
Article 56 TFEU, and that the Hungarian
authorities cannot impose sanctions on
operators where the national gambling
law infringes EU law.
IRELAND NETHERLANDS
Regulated Gambling Products:
Online gaming is not specifically
accounted for in Ireland’s outdated
legislation and as such is currently
unregulated. Online betting has been
regulated since August 2015.
Status: Updating its legislation, which
will create a comprehensive igaming
regime and payment restrictions. More
substantive developments are expected in
2017. The Betting (Amendment) Act 2015
now requires remote bookmakers to hold a
licence, and pay a 1% turnover-based duty. Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker,
casino, bingo and lottery.
Operator Type: Monopoly for
all products.
Status: The Dutch Lower House
approved the Online Gambling Bill
In mid-2016, which will introduce an
online gambling licensing regime in the
Netherlands. The legislation will impose
a 29% GGR tax on both online and land-
based operators. The Bill still requires
approval from the Senate and licensing
is not expected to commence until at
least 2019. In the interim, the regulator
continues to implement enforcement
measures against those operators
targeting Dutch players and has
announced a change to its enforcement
policy so as to broaden the scope of its
“prioritisation criteria”.
ITALY
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker,
casino, bingo and lottery.
Operator Type: Fully regu lated
market. A recently passed Stability Law
introduces various measures affecting the
remote gambling industry, including tax
changes and plans for tighter advertising
rules. The law will provide for the award
of 120 new online gaming licences
(lasting for six years). The tender process
for the award of the licences has been
delayed since mid-2016.
LUXEMBOURG
Regulated Gambling Products: Lottery.
Operator Type: Monopoly.
Status: The general prohibition on
gambling appears sufficiently wide to
cover all forms of online gambling.
MALTA
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker,
casino, bingo and lottery.
Operator Type: Private operators
can apply for a local licence (save for
lottery products).
Status: Following an announcement by
the Malta Gaming Authority in 2015
to modernise its online gambling rules,
Malta has recently published a white
paper proposing widespread reforms to its
regulatory framework on gambling. The
white paper seeks to replace the licensing
system with two types of licence only
(B2B and B2C). A consultation on the
white paper is open until 23 August.
NORWAY
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting and lottery.
Operator Type: Online gambling is
reserved for its two monopoly providers:
Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto.
Status: The monopoly has extended its
offering to include live betting, online
bingo and casino games in an attempt
to redirect traffic from unlicensed sites.
The government published a long-
awaited white paper on how best to
regulate the gambling sector in March
2017 which proposes that the gambling
monopoly remain in place and no
licensing system be introduced. The
Norwegian regulator continues to step up
enforcement efforts against unregulated
operators, local banks and payment
service providers.
POLAND
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, casino
and poker.
Operator Type: Betting licences
are available for companies with a
representative in Poland. Casino and
poker are reserved for a state monopoly.
Status: Legislation enacted 1 January
2012 permits betting. To date, only a
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