Regulation round-up 18 April 2017
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (12 April to 18 April 2017)
Kenya President intervenes in 50% tax row
Uhuru Kenyatta says government not looking to “kill the industry” with increased levy and is willing to listen to operator concerns
Kenya’s President has intervened in the escalating row concerning the country’s planned 50% levy on gaming operators, suggesting his government may be willing to negotiate over the potentially crippling tax.
Earlier this month, Treasury cabinet minister Henry Rotich delivered a blow to the gaming industry when he revealed plans to increase the tax to a uniform 50% rate from the current 7.5% applied to betting and 12% on gaming.
Rotich said the motivation behind the hike was to protect the young and vulnerable from gambling with the additional revenues raised to be channelled towards youth sports and culture projects.
However, speaking at a policy launch press conference last week, the country’s President, Uhuru Kenyatta, said the government would be willing to review the rate, although made clear he would rather the tax be “too high than too low”.
The risk and reward of Poland
Poland’s under-fire online gambling market appeared to be thrown a lifeline in early April with the news GVC-owned bwin would be applying for a licence. It was a surprise turn for a market otherwise viewed as a no-go zone by the major operators and it raises some interesting questions about the future both of Poland and the wider European model.
On the face of it the Polish market is a huge backwards step for the progress of online gambling in Europe. It is regulation broadly in name only with a monopoly on online casino, a punitive turnover tax on sports betting and a number of restrictions imposed on marketing. And operators have been near unanimous in their condemnation.
It can reasonably be viewed as protectionist and while the requirement for a local land-based presence has been removed, it has seemingly been set out to deter operators rather than encourage them. Clive Hawkswood, chief executive of the RGA, spoke out against the Polish market back in September last year warning of what would follow.
Seven days in regulation:
US government to compensate Absolute Poker’s Black Friday players
The US Department of Justice (DOJ) has announced the launch of a compensation program for Absolute Poker players who were unable to withdraw funds following the events of Black Friday.
Garden City Group, the same firm used to refund Full Tilt Poker players, has been retained by the acting United States Attorney for the Southern District of New York to oversee a process for compensating eligible victims.
A statement from the US DOJ said: “The Department of Justice has concluded that players of Absolute Poker who were unable to recover their funds from Absolute Poker are similarly situated to the eligible victims of Full Tilt Poker, in that Absolute Poker, like Full Tilt Poker, did not maintain funds sufficient to repay all of its players.”
Poll results: Bookies should fear spyware investigation
Operators using iovation’s iesnare tracking tool should be concerned by the Information Commissioner’s Office’s (ICO) decision to investigate how it is being used, according to the results of last week’s EGR Intel poll.
The ICO recently revealed that, following complaints from punters, Totesport and Sky Bet had been using iesnare, a piece of software which can be downloaded onto customers’ computers.
While a wider pool of bookmakers are thought to be using iesnare, both Totesport and Sky Bet said the ‘cookie’ was used to identify customers by device, which can help them detect instances of fraud.
London Breakfast Briefing to discuss how to improve industry reputation
Register now to attend the next EGR Breakfast Briefing in London which will explore how the gambling and gaming industry can improve its public image.
Taking place on 4 May at the Hippodrome Casino, and in light of a number of ongoing UK regulatory reviews, expert panellists will offer their thoughts on why the industry appears to be losing the long-term PR battle.
Speakers will consider the ways in which stakeholders can regain the front foot and paint a more positive picture while also discuss whether there are more deep-rooted issues that industry needs to address.
Step by step: The steady development of the Spanish market
The Spanish remote gaming market is something of a puzzle. Viewed in a vacuum it’s an undoubted success, with a thriving tightly regulated market full of high-quality operators and strong growth trends.
Online revenues grew by 34% in 2016, on top of 26% growth in the previous year, and all the major operators in the region report positive momentum. And yet, there is the sense that Spain is something of a disappointment.
Total revenues for Spain with a population of nearly 47 million were €420m for 2016, which places it just slightly ahead of the Danish regulated market, where the population is about 12% the size at 5.6 million.