Betfair confirms Greek withdrawal
Operator awaiting "greater clarity" on situation - considers existing legislation incompatible with EU law.
Betfair has confirmed that it is to withdraw from the Greek egaming market until such time that there is greater clarity on the regulatory situation.
The operator, which had previously anticipated £13m in revenues and £7m of contribution from the market in the current financial year, maintains its stance that the existing regulations do not comply with EU law,
These views echo concerns held by lobby group the Remote Gambling Association, with whom Betfair is working “To achieve legislation that allows fair competition in the market.”
The RGA has already suggested it will launch a legal challenge to the Greek legislation, which it deems “unfair” and “unworkable”, with chief executive Clive Hawkswood saying: “[The regulations] are blatantly protectionist in nature and if EU Internal Market rules mean anything then the European Commission must take prompt action to make Greece reconsider.”
Greece, under the current plan of action, is poised to regulate only a limited number of products, with Betfair’s core exchange offering among those ignored by existing regulatory proposals.
There are also concerns from CJEU advocate general Jan Mazak that monopoly operator OPAP is being permitted to pursue an “expansionist commercial policy”. The Greek government is poised to sell off its 33% stake in OPAP, with eight candidates including a Playtech-led consortium among the potential bidders.
The country’s authorities earlier this month contacted a number of allegedly non-compliant offshore operators, warning them to withdraw from the market by 5 December or face potential legal action – Betfair is the first operator to announce it will pull out of the market ahead of that deadline.
Betfair said in a statement this morning that it “…believes that there are significant issues with the legality of this Decision. However, until greater clarity is received, we have taken the decision to withdraw from the market and will continue to support the RGA’s efforts.”
The operator has also expressed concerns with regard to potential back-tax payments which may come the way of those operators continuing to take Greek bets, explaining that this – among other potential fiscal commitments – “make the market economically unattractive.”
“It added that: Betfair has, to date, not applied for a permit to operate in Greece as, according to legal advice received, the value of these permits is unclear and we consider the gambling legislation in the country to be inconsistent with European law.”
Concerns over egaming legislation passed by certain EU member states have come to the fore in the weeks since the publication of the European Commission’s action plan on online gambling in late October.
The EC pledged to act on those countries that have failed to comply with EU law, with Greece, Belgium and Germany among those jurisdictions at the heart of the debate, while last week saw the EC issue an opinion against Czech regulations.
Hawkswood told eGaming Review last week of his concerns about the lack of action with regards to Belgium, where bwin.party co-CEO Norbert Teufelberger was detained and questioned for the operator’s continued dot.com activity in a jurisdiction it (as well as a number of other operators) considers non-compliant with EU law.
“It’s not a large market but it’s so blatant that if you’re doing something similar to Belgium then you might now think it’s fine to carry on doing it,” Hawkswood explained, adding: “It is time to draw a line in the sand.”
Analyst Ivor Jones of Numis retained his firm’s ‘Buy’ recommendation, saying in a note this morning: “We believe there are no more territories where change inspired by regulation is on the cards in the short term, but there remains a possibility that the Board will make further changes when and if it reassesses its risk appetite.”
Nick Batram, analyst with Peel Hunt, also issued a ‘Buy’ recommendation on the grounds that “We believe there is significant potential to improve profitability and efficiency within the core regulated business, and that Breon Corcoran (CEO) is the man to deliver this.”