iGB Affiliate 70 Aug/Sept | Page 59

WEBMASTER WORLD Operator type: Sports betting, poker and casino licences are available to private operators. Lottery is controlled by the state monopoly. Status: The Danish online gambling regime went live on 1 January, 2012. ISP-blocking measures are active in the jurisdiction and the Danish Gaming Authority has been granted an injunction to block operators and suppliers that have been targeting Danish customers without the requisite licence. Danish political parties have reached an agreement to introduce limits on bonuses. The Ministry of Taxation is understood to be aiming for a 1 January, 2019 implementation, although the exact proposed changes are currently unknown. ESTONIA Regulated gambling products: Sports betting, horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo and lottery. Operator type: Licences for all gambling products are available to private operators save for lotteries, which are reserved exclusively for the monopoly operator. Status: Operators seeking to accept business from players in Estonia must be issued an activity licence for the type of gambling they wish to offer, then an operating permit to provide the services remotely. A blacklist of about 1,100 operators is maintained and updated by local authorities and ISP and payment blocking is in force. Though some operators argue that the regime is still not compatible with EU law, there has been no open challenge by the EC to date. FINLAND Regulated gambling products: Sports betting, horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo and lottery. Operator type: All gambling products are under the exclusive control of the three monopoly providers, Raha- automaattiyhdistys (RAY), Fintoto Oy and Veikkaus Oy. The monopolies merged into one state entity on 1 January, 2017. Status: An ECJ ruling confirmed that Finland’s three monopoly providers are legally permitted, which was subsequently written into law. In November 2013, the EC also withdrew infringement proceedings. Active enforcement measures are in place (restrictive marketing for offshore operators and ISP blocking). FRANCE Regulated gambling products: Sports betting, horse race betting, poker, bingo and lottery. Operator type: Private operators can obtain online licences for sports betting, horse race betting and poker. The monopoly has exclusive rights to bingo and lottery. Status: A regulated market since the introduction of a licensing regime in 2010, following which the EC withdrew its infringement proceedings. Parliament announced a full review of French gambling legislation in 2016, although little progress has been made to date except for changes to allow for international poker liquidity and provisions relating to the organisation of esports tournaments. The state-owned operator of France’s national lottery games, Française des Jeux (FDJ), is set to be privatised, with broader regulatory changes to the online sector expected to follow. GERMANY Regulated gambling products: Schleswig- Holstein, a small northern-German state, regulates sports betting, horse race betting, poker, casino and bingo. The other 15 states of Germany currently permit only sports betting and horse race betting. Operator type: Private operators can no longer obtain licences in Schleswig-Holstein and those in existence will expire on 30 June, 2019. In the other 15 states, horse race betting licences are available at a regional level but the position surrounding the 20 available sports-betting licences is still uncertain. Status: The licensing regime is in a state of flux. The tender for 20 federal sports- betting licences was aborted following a number of appeals by operators who were not granted licences. The ECJ ruled in 2016 that Germany’s sports-betting regulation was incompatible with EU law and that enforcement actions would be unlawful where none of the 20 licences could, in practice, be acquired. The decision led to calls for comprehensive legal reform of Germany’s gambling legislation. In March 2017, all 16 German states signed amendments to the country’s gambling law; however, on 22 September, 2017, Schleswig-Holstein’s state parliament voted against ratifying these, with North-Rhine Westphalia and Hesse since announcing their intention to follow suit. Without full state support, the intended changes did not take effect, further delaying reform. A Federal Administrative Court ruling on 26 October, 2017, upheld the ban on online casinos and poker. The ruling, which is now the subject of a constitutional complaint, appears to have led to action by local regulators seeking to enforce the prohibition of online casinos by issuing interdiction letters to operators. Payment- blocking initiatives are also being pursued. GREAT BRITAIN Regulated gambling products: Sports betting, horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo and lottery. Operator type: All licences are available to private operators save for lottery, which is reserved exclusively for the monopoly provider, Camelot. Status: Any operator that transacts with, or advertises to, British residents requires a licence from the Gambling Commission. Licensed operators are required to source gambling software from commission- licensed businesses. Since 1 August, 2017, the first use of free plays for remote gaming has been taxed and winnings brought into the duty calculation at the end of the rewagering process. The UK government has announced its intention to increase Remote Gaming Duty at the next budget to cover a shortfall in lost tax revenue resulting from a reduction in maximum stakes on fixed odds betting terminals from £100 to £2. 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 the Hellenic Gaming Commission launched a consultation on the reform of the country’s online gambling regulation in late 2017. iGB Affiliate Issue 70 AUG/SEP 2018 55