Regulation round-up 25 August 2015
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (19 August to 25 August 2015)
Sportingbet plays down Ireland betting breach
Operator says it unwittingly accepted bets from 143 customers based within the recently re-regulated Irish market
Sportingbet said a “legal technicality” was to blame after being found to have accepted a number of bets from Ireland-based customers following the start of the country’s new online licensing regime.
The GVC Holdings-owned operator, which has applied for but has yet to receive an Irish online betting licence, said it unwittingly accepted bets from a total of 143 customers since the new Point of Consumption regime went live on 1 August.
The firm insisted it had closed-off access to its sportsbook and virtual sports products to Irish customers as per the new regulations but a “handful” of customers slipped through the net.
On realising its error last week, the firm initially contacted customers to inform them all open bets placed in August would be made void, however, the company has since agreed with Irish authorities to honour all outstanding bets.
Q&A: Unibet’s Peter Alling on regulation in Norway
Norway has continued to stall on the long process towards a liberalisation of its online gaming framework, which could eventually open up the two government-owned monopolies, Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto, to outside competition.
Meanwhile, the size of Norway’s unregulated online market continues to grow. According to a report from Menon Business Economics, revenues grew 23% year-on-year in 2014 to NOK2.5bn (£192m) and the offshore market now accounts for more than half of all gross gaming revenues in the country.
But despite political discourse on a new licensing framework, progress continues to be slow and there are fears that little will be achieved before the country’s next election in 2017. eGaming Review caught up with Unibet’s public affairs manager for the Nordics Peter Alling to weigh-up the outlook.
Seven days in regulation:
Industry body moves to strengthen advertising regulation
The Industry Group for Responsible Gambling (IGRG) has announced a series of additions to its Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising and claimed the industry has an obligation to commit to minimising problem and underage gambling.
In a series of revised measures which will be implemented over the next six months, the IGRG will ban pre-watershed television advertising of sign-up offers that are targeted at new customers and will give the Gamble Aware website more prominence in print and broadcast advertising.
Clear 18+ or “no under 18s” messaging on all print and television adverts has also been added to the code, alongside new provisions to cover aspects of marketing on social media.
Further details of Lithuania‘s Gambling Law have emerged. The European Commission was notified of the bill in May, and it was reported at the time that while it created provision for online gambling, licences would be limited to those with established entities in Lithuania.
This has now been clarified to state that those eligible for a license must already be in possession of a land-based gambling license.
Each license will cost 1.1m euros, while online gambling will be open to all Lithuanians over the age of 18, as opposed to the 21 years old you must be to gamble in land-based venues.