Exclusive: UK in talks to join ARJEL-AAMS memorandum
ARJEL president Jean-François Vilotte reveals UK Gambling Commission in talks to join MoU signed by French and Italian regulators, with Spain to officially join the agreement next week.
The UK Gambling Commission is in talks to join a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by French and Italian regulators in June last year, with Spain to officially join the agreement next week, ARJEL president Jean-François Vilotte has revealed.
The news follows UK chancellor George Osborne’s announcement that operators would soon be charged at a point of consumption rather than a point of supply during his budget speech last Wednesday.
Speaking at the iGaming France conference in Paris this morning, Vilotte described the move as “towards the harmonisation of European regulation,” and one that would allow for better protection of minors and players, and enable countries to fight against illegal operators more effectively.
The original MoU signed between ARJEL and Italian regulator AAMS, signed last year, was designed to formalise processes for sharing information to combat collusion, preserve integrity, ensure player protection, and effectively supervise licensed, and ban illegal, operators.
eGaming Review exclusively revealed that Spain was in talks to join the agreement in January this year, with AAMS head of remote gaming Francesco Rodano describing the move as “natural.”
At the time Spanish deputy general director of gaming Juan Carlos Alfonso told eGR the agreement was a step towards shared European liquidity: “After Black Friday, no-one wants to operate in grey areas, and a shared liquidity model will allow us to create a stronger regulatory framework in Europe.”
A spokesperson for ARJEL then also claimed that the discussions were “just a project”, however Vilotte confirmed this morning that Spain would officially join the MoU next week.
In its current form the MoU does not make any provisions to share liquidity, however a provision in Italian law is thought to allow French horse racing market leader PMU and licensed Italian horse racing operators to share liquidity on a number of racing events each month. Despite rumours that this will be extended to cover sports betting and poker, no timescale for implementing the model has been announced.