Regulation round-up 13 September 2016
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (7 September to 13 September 2016)
German state to issue first temporary online betting permits
But stakeholders downplay importance of the permits in the battle for national regulation
The German state of Hesse has announced plans to issue âorders of toleranceâ (Duldungsverfügungen) to allow online sports betting in the state while national betting legislation remains tied up in the courts.
Operators can apply for the orders from 15 September until 15 November, providing certain requirements are met, but are not official licences since an operator would need an order for each of Germany’s 16 states.
However stakeholders in the German market downplayed the significance of the Hessian announcement, suggesting firms might be better served continuing to operate in the grey market while the wider legal battle plays out.
Martin Arendts, a German gaming lawyer, said: “From my point of view it is not a big step. This is the State of Hesse effectively declaring it cannot pass regulation in consistency with EU law and constitutional law and will not grant proper licences.”
Coral hit with double ASA ban
The Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has banned two separate email promotions run by Coral during Euro 2016 due to “misleading” free bet deals.
Coral found itself in trouble for an email and a pop-up ad promoting free £10 bets on the outcome of Euro 2016 matches if a bet was placed after 8pm.
Despite the timing restriction appearing in the terms of conditions of the respective adverts, the ASA ruled the promotions did not make the condition “sufficiently clear” in the main body of the advert.
Seven days in regulation:
Betfair to scrap “unpopular” Australian wallet
Betfair is to scrap its Australian wallet on the Exchange and merge all funds into a single wallet from 20 September, eGaming Review has learned.
The firm sent out an email to customers last week informing them of the change, explaining: “You will no longer have to transfer funds to your AUS wallet to bet on Australian & New Zealand events.”
A Betfair spokesperson told EGR the separate wallet had “never been popular with customers” and the move was made possible when Crown Resorts â which owns and operates 100% of Betfair Australasia â recently obtained a gaming licence from the Northern Territory Racing Commission.
Poll: Which US state will be next to regulate egaming?
It’s been nearly three years since New Jersey became the third state to launch regulated online gambling in the United States but since then similar attempts in other states have all fallen by the wayside.
California is widely seen as a key regulatory battleground, with many experts predicting that the approval of egaming in the Golden State could lead to a potential domino effect throughout the country.
But recent attempts to regulate online poker in California have faced numerous setbacks and just last month its latest piece of egaming legislation died in the state’s Assembly.