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
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