WEBMASTER WORLD
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. Online gaming (including
poker) is no longer prohibited as of 1
April 2017, although the exclusive rights
to offer such products are reserved for a
state monopoly. Provisions that provide
for the establishment of a blacklist of
unlicensed operators and ISP and payment
blocking came into force on 1 July 2017.
The blacklist contains more than 1,000
domain names.
PORTUGAL
Regulated gambling products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,
bingo and lottery.
Operator type: Any EU/EEA operator
can apply to be granted a licence for online
gambling. Lottery games and land-based
fixed-odds sports betting remain reserved
for a monopoly.
Status: A regulated market since 2015.
Although operators can now apply for
licences, their Portuguese revenue streams
are subject to comparatively high tax rates,
particularly in sports betting (8-16% tax
on turnover). In 2015, the RGA filed a
state-aid case with the EC challenging
the Portuguese betting tax as breaking
EU trade rules. On 13 October 2018, the
government approved the state budget law
for 2019 which proposes the introduction
of a flat rate of 25% tax on GGY for all
games. The final version is expected to be
approved at the end of November 2018.
ROMANIA
Regulated gambling products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, casino, bingo
and lottery.
Operator type: Any operator from
an EU/EEA jurisdiction or the Swiss
Confederation can apply for a licence.
Lottery games remain reserved for
the monopoly.
Status: The Romanian government passed
legislation in 2014 that allows entities
within the EU to apply for a licence,
imposes a reform on licence fees and
eliminates many (but not all) of the tax
burdens placed on player revenues. The
Gambling Law (as amended) introduced a
legal framework for a fully regulated online
gambling market and requires licences
to be held by online gambling operators,
as well as software providers, payment
processors, affiliates and testing labs. After
some delay, the secondary legislation that
fully implemented the new licensing regime
came into force on 26 February 2016.
SLOVAKIA
Regulated gambling products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,
bingo and lottery.
Operator type: Monopoly, save that land-
based sports-betting operators can offer
services online owing to a legal loophole.
Status: In November 2016, a bill amending
the existing gambling legal framework was
approved. The amendments, which entered
into force on 1 January 2017, included
the introduction of ISP and payment
blocking of illegal online gambling
offerings in the Slovak territory. Slovakia’s
Financial Directorate began to perform its
supervisory function over these blocking
measures from 1 July 2017. New draft
legislation has been notified to the EC with
a view to liberalising the market in 2019.
The proposed legislation, if passed, will
allow private EU/EEA operators to apply
for online gambling licences.
SLOVENIA
Regulated gambling products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,
bingo and lottery.
Operator type: Online gambling must be
operated by land-based casinos or lotteries
and, as a result, only the monopoly holds
online licences in Slovenia.
Status: Draft amendments to the Gaming
Act were published in 2015, which aim
to remove the current local establishment
requirement. The proposal is yet to be
submitted to the Slovenian parliament,
although it is expected to be adopted in
2018. Whether any amendments will
introduce a formal licensing system
remains unclear.
SPAIN
Regulated gambling products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,
bingo and lottery.
Operator type: Private operators can apply
for licences for all gambling products save
for lottery.
Status: Operators must hold a general
licence and a specific licence, both issued
by the National Gambling Commission,
for each activity. The Spanish regulatory
body DGOJ has formally opened its third
call for tender, with applications for online
licences accepted from operators until 18
December 2018. The 2018 parliamentary
budget was passed into law in June 2018,
resulting in a reduction to gambling tax
effective as of 1 July 2018. The DGOJ
has recently introduced a number of new
player protection initiatives. More stringent
restrictions on gambling advertising in the
country may take effect in the near future.
SWEDEN
Regulated gambling products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, bingo
and lottery.
Operator type: Only public-benefit
organisations, the horse racing industry and
the state lottery may obtain a licence. No
licences are available for private operators,
although this will change with the
introduction of the new legal framework.
Status: The Swedish parliament adopted a
bill that will introduce an online-gambling
licensing regime.The law is expected to
enter into force on 1 January 2019, with
the licence application process open as of
1 August 2018.
Wiggin is a law firm dedicated to supporting the media,
entertainment and gaming sectors. Its market-leading
betting and gaming group provides specialist legal
services to an array of gambling industry stakeholders.
We advise many of the world’s leading gambling
operators and suppliers and also enjoy helping
entrepreneurial, interactive start-up businesses. If you’d
like to hear more, contact us at [email protected]
iGB Affiliate Issue 72 DEC 2018 / JAN 2019
57