iGB Marketplace Directory iGB Marketplace 2019 | Page 16

EUROPEAN REGULATION MALTA Regulated gambling products: Sports betting, horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo and lottery. Operator type: Private operators can apply for a local licence (except for lottery products). Status: Malta has approved a new Gaming Act that replaces all existing gaming legislation with a single piece of legislation, supplemented by secondary legislation. The Gaming Act, together with directives and regulations, is effective as of 1 August, 2018. NETHERLANDS Regulated gambling products: Sports betting, horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo and lottery. Operator type: Monopoly for all products. Status: The Dutch parliament’s lower house approved the Remote Gambling Bill in 2016, which will introduce an online gambling licensing regime. In September 2018, the Government opened a public consultation on the implementing regulations of the Remote Gambling Bill, which will be followed by debate and a vote in the Senate, expected in early 2019. It is understood that operators that have previously been fi ned by the Dutch regulator will not be eligible for a licence. In the interim, the regulator continues to implement enforcement measures against operators targeting Dutch players, having imposed recent sanctions against three well-known operators. NORWAY Regulated gambling products: Sports betting, horse race betting and lottery. Operator type: Online gambling is reserved for the 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 traffi c from unlicensed sites. The Norwegian regulator continues to step up enforcement efforts against unregulated operators, local banks and payment service providers. On 4 16 MARKETPLACE 2019 Sponsored by June, 2018, the Ministry of Culture notifi ed a draft regulation to the European Commission that would establish payment-blocking measures. The standstill period ended on 5 September, 2018. The European Gaming and Betting Association is understood to have fi led a legal challenge against the proposed measures. 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 fi xed-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 fi led 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 fl at rate of 25% tax on GGY for all games. The fi nal version is expected to be approved at the end of November 2018.