Regulation round-up 1 October 2013
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (25 September to 1 October 2013)
Gambling Commission and National Lottery to merge this week
National Lottery Commission to be dissolved following completion of 1 October merger of UK regulatory bodies
The UK Gambling Commission (GC) and the National Lottery Commission (NC) are set to merge on 1 October following approval from governmental authorities.
The Public Bodies (Merger of the Gambling Commission and the National Lottery Commission) Order 2013 will result in the abolition of the lottery regulator and the transfer of its powers and functions to the Gambling Commission. Philip Graf will chair the new body and Jenny Williams will remain as chief executive.
Speaking with eGaming Review, a spokesperson for the UK Gambling Commission said the merger is a result of the Government’s attempts to increase accountability and reduce the size and cost of public bodies.
“The merger resulted from the government’s programme of rationalisation of non-departmental public sector bodies and the National Lottery regulator has been sharing our Birmingham offices and other back office services such as HR since January 2012,” he said.
Bulgaria regulator adds ten more sites to blacklist
Bulgaria’s State Gambling Commission has added a further ten domains to its blacklist of illegal operators, including GVC-owned CasinoClub, Winamax and Malta-licensed Mega Casino.
The blacklist, which was created after the Bulgarian parliament handed the Commission power to order internet service providers to block unlicensed sites, now comprises around 150 domains.
Earlier this month, the Commission awarded the country’s first online sports betting licence to Malta-based Eurofootball, subject to the operator paying a licence fee of around 20,000.
Bulgaria’s gambling regulator had been expected to begin awarding online operator licences last year following the passage of legislation in the Bulgarian parliament in March 2012.
Seven days in regulation news:
Poll results: Liquidity sharing in Europe needed
The regulated online poker sector in Europe will not survive unless cross-border liquidity sharing is introduced, eGaming Review readers have said.
Since the early success of the dot.it poker market in Italy, the European regulated poker sector has seen its stock fall with ring-fenced markets such as those in Spain and France struggling to be competitive and causing some operators to withdraw from the market.
Last week, Barrière Poker became the latest operator to react to dwindling player numbers after it announced the closure of its French poker room citing a “degradation” of the local market.
As such, in this week’s poll eGR asked if regulated online poker was doomed without liquidity sharing?
The majority of respondents (52%) said that the online poker sector will fail unless liquidity sharing is introduced to the continent.