Schleswig Holstein issues first online casino licences
Twelve operators including PokerStars, bwin.party and Betfair receive approval to offer casino and poker in the north German Land.
Schleswig Holstein has issued its first online casino and poker licences just over a week after the European Commission issued a detailed opinion against the Land’s decision to abolish its breakaway legislation.
A total of twelve leading operators have secured approval, including bwin.party, Bet365, Ladbrokes and PokerStars all receiving six-year licences to offer casino and games to Schleswig Holstein residents.
Betfair has also been certified, despite the operator announcing that it was to withdraw its exchange product from the market, describing the proposed 5% tax on sports betting stakes, part of the legislation agreed by the other 15 other 16 Länder, “unviable”.
The State’s Ministry of the Interior also revealed a further 18 applications are under currently consideration.
The opening of the casino and games market comes just weeks after a further three sports betting licences were awarded, bringing the total number of companies certified to operate in Schleswig Holstein to 15, yet Interior Minister Andreas Breitner reaffirmed the state’s intention to scrap existing legislation in order to join the Interstate Gambling Treaty, signed by Germany’s 15 other federal states.
Breitner explained that while the ultimate goal was to fall in line with the other 15 Länder, the government, elected in June this year, was duty-bound to complete the work of its predecessor.
Analyst Ivor Jones of Numis Securities said in a note that the awarding of these licences makes it “even more difficult” for the 15-State Treaty to be implemented. He added that the contrasting regimes within Germany would cause further problems, with a lack of clarity as to which regulatory model operators should follow.
“European law requires that the laws of member states are ‘coherent,’ i.e. consistent in application to companies inside and outside the country. A situation has now been created where the law will not even be coherent within Germany,” he explained.
The German Bundestag ratified the controversial Federal Horse Racing and Lottery Act in June, with the treaty coming into force from 1 July. Under the terms of the legislation, private operators would only be able to offer sports betting, with revenues hit by a 5% turnover tax.
This came despite the European Commission issuing a damning verdict on the proposed terms, explaining that it failed to comply with European law, prompting Minister of the Economy and deputy Prime Minister for Saxony Jörg Bode to say that the treaty had “failed in its present form”.
As a result of legislation being passed, both William Hill and 188Bet withdrew from the German market, while bwin.party announced that it would apply for a German sports betting licence in August this year, despite continuing to believe that the treaty “fails to meet the requirements of EU law”, according to co-CEO Jim Ryan.
The operator saw a 5% year-on-year decline in third quarter revenues blamed in part on the high level of taxation, and co-CEO Norbert Teufelberger (who will become Group CEO following Ryan’s retirement in January next year) has said that it will continue to offer casino and poker in Germany, despite the country’s authorities warning that only sports betting applicants which shut down the verticals will be awarded a licence.
The application process is being handled by the Land of Hesse, which announced in November that it will continue to accept applications for one of the country’s 20 sports betting licences until 21 January 2013, after the deadline had originally been extended from 20 December to 7 January.
Mathias Dahms, CEO mybet, described the awarding of casino and poker licences as “great news for us all.”
“Mybet’s holding company was established in Schleswig Holstein, and we are therefore particularly proud to be among the first licensed operators, and for our customers this is good news, because they can now play licensed and regulated casino games and poker. Schleswig Holstein has created pioneering gambling legislation for both Germany and Europe.
The 12 companies licensed to offer online casino, poker and games in full:
- 888 Germany Ltd. (Gibraltar) mit der Marke (888 Poker)
- bet-at-home Internet Limited (Malta)
- Hillside (Gibraltar) Limited (Gibraltar) mit der Marke (bet365)
- Polco Ltd. (Malta) mit der Marke (betfair)
- Electraworks Kiel Ltd. (Malta) mit der Marke (Bwin)
- Cashpoint Malta Limited (Malta)
- Ladbrokes International PLC (Gibraltar)
- Personal Exchange International Limited (Malta) mit der Marke (mybet)
- OnlineCasino Deutschland GmbH (Bautzen)
- REEL Germany Limited (Malta) mit der Marke (PokerStars)
- Tipico Company Limited (Malta)Skill on Net Limited (Malta)