Regulation round-up 28 October 2014
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (22 October to 28 October 2014)
Germany lock-out could continue “for years”
Bet-at-home official sceptical of prospective 2015 go-live date with legal proceedings expected to drag on
Online sports betting operators who were awarded a licence by the Hessian Ministry of the Interior last month could remain locked out of the market “for years”, one company representative has told eGaming Review.
Klaus Fahrnberger, investor relations manager at Austria-based bet-at-home.com, said the decision to temporarily suspend the process following legal challenges could result in a substantial delay.
“If the judges have in further proceedings [decided] that the outcome of the main proceedings must be awaited, the licences would not come into effect for years,” he added.
And Fahrnberger also said that should legal proceedings continue to drag on, a decision would have to be made as to “whether the entire structure must be replaced”.
Dutch regulator asks operators to register interest in market
The Netherlands Gaming Authority has asked egaming companies to register an official interest in applying for a Dutch licence before the end of the year as it looks to “get to know” operators targeting the proposed regulated market.
Speaking during a presentation at the Excellence in Gaming (EiG) conference in Berlin last week, the regulator’s chief executive Marja Appelman said operators could begin submitting a formal interest from 1 December 2014.
During the packed ‘Quickfire Update on regulatory progress in the Netherlands’ discussion Appelman also said she expected between 50 to 80 applicants to express an interest ahead of a new public consultation to kick off in January 2015.
Seven days in regulation:
PoC a “great opportunity” for Playtech
Playtech chief executive Mor Weizer believes the UK’s looming Point of Consumption (PoC) tax regime represents a “great opportunity” for the firm as operators look for cost-efficient, low maintenance software deals.
Speaking after its Q3 results disclosure last week, Weizer said the UK had grown in prominence for the supplier with revenues from the market growing at a rate of 28% year-on-year.
Meanwhile European revenues excluding the UK faltered – increasing at less than half the growth rate of the UK – in the face of tighter regulation. Weizer cited the Netherlands as an example of slowed growth as operators begin to suspend activities in the country pending possible licence applications at the end of the year.
UK Treasury confident of defeating GBGA challenge
Britain’s new online gambling tax rate is expected to go ahead as planned on December 1 despite the latest legal challenge by the Gibraltar Betting and Gambling Association (GBGA).
The GBGA recently filed for a judicial review (JR) of the 15% online tax rate set to be introduced on December 1 by the UK Treasury.
But in a statement to eGR a spokesman for HMRC, the department responsible for introducing the new tax rate, said they would “robustly defend against the challenge”.
Sweden’s regulated market hit by “foreign” growth
Sweden’s local gambling market dropped 6% in Q3 2014 with gross gaming revenues for the year-to-date now down 7% year-on-year to SEK11.5bn (£990m) with the regulator pointedly referencing corresponding growth in the remote online market.
According to figures released by the Swedish Gambling Authority (Lotteriinspektionen), gross turnover for both online and offline channels for the three months ended 30 September fell 6% from SEK9.8bn to SEK9.1bn, driven by monopoly operator Svenska Spel’s 13% turnover decline from SEK5.4bn to SEK4.8bn.
So far this year Svenska Spel has suffered a double-digit drop in online poker with turnover down 11 %, and the only part of its business to report any growth was sports betting which grew 15.4% year-on-year to SEK4bn (£340m).
Italian regulator offers boost to in-play operators
Italian regulator AAMS has made a crucial amendment to its bet settlement requirements enabling operators to offer a greater number of in-running markets.
The amendment relates to the Palinsesto Complementare – bets offered in addition to AAMS’ official schedule – for which operators were required provide the regulator with at least two sources of information for bet settlement purposes.
A number of operators highlighted that information on certain in-running markets, such as next corner betting in a specific time frame, was not always available through official sources.
Winamax IP claims over sit’n’go format dismissed by French court
Winamax has had its claims that Playtech infringed on intellectual property rights surrounding its Expresso poker game dismissed by a French court.
In August Winamax argued Playtech’s Twister poker product infringed on the rights of its jackpot prizepool sit’n’go game released in August last year, and requested that the game be made unavailable to players in France.
The firm also sought action against operators offering the product to customers in the country including Playtech, Betclic Everest and Unibet, and claimed damages of 5,000 from each company.