Regulation Round-up 27 March 2012
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (21 March to 27 March 2012).
UK in talks to join ARJEL-AAMS memorandum
ARJEL president Jean-François Vilotte reveals UK Gambling Commission in talks to join MoU signed by French and Italian regulators, with Spain to officially join the agreement next week.
The UK Gambling Commission is in talks to join a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by French and Italian regulators in June last year, with Spain to officially join the agreement next week, ARJEL president Jean-François Vilotte has revealed.
The news follows UK chancellor George Osborne’s announcement that operators would soon be charged at a point of consumption rather than a point of supply during his budget speech last Wednesday.
Speaking at the iGaming France conference in Paris on Monday morning, Vilotte described the move as “towards the harmonisation of European regulation,” and one that would allow for better protection of minors and players, and enable countries to fight against illegal operators more effectively.
The original MoU signed between ARJEL and Italian regulator AAMS, signed last year, was designed to formalise processes for sharing information to combat collusion, preserve integrity, ensure player protection, and effectively supervise licensed, and ban illegal, operators.
Chancellor confirms UK point of consumption tax
George Osborne says remote gambling introduced by last government allowed overseas operators to “largely avoid it “ and much of the industry has, as result, moved offshore”.
Chancellor George Osborne has confirmed plans to tax online gambling operators offering bets to UK customers at a point of consumption rather than a place of supply.
In his budget speech early this afternoon Osbourne said that the current duty regime for remote gambling introduced by the last government was levied on a place of supply basis and that this had allowed overseas operators to “largely avoid it “ and much of the industry has, as result, moved offshore”.
“Ninety per cent of online gaming in the UK consumed by our citizens is now supplied from outside the UK. And the remaining UK operations are under pressure to leave”, he added.
EC slams German State Treaty proposals
In a damning letter Commission criticises proposals for failing to address its concerns over compatibility with European law – Minister of Economy says treaty has “failed in its present form”.
The European Commission (EC) has issued a detailed response rejecting Germany’s revised proposals for a new State Treaty with several sources including the Minister of Economy claiming this could spell the “end of the road” for the 15 Länder’s online gambling bill in its present form.
In a damning letter to 15 of the Germany’s 16 Länder the Commission criticised their proposals for failing to address its main concerns over its compatibility with European law with Jörg Bode, Minister of Economy and deputy Prime Minister for the state of Lower Saxony saying the treaty had “failed in its present form”.
Despite the Commission having yet to respond to the amended treaty, on 15 December last year, 15 of the 16 Länder signed the treaty with the provision that they would only implement it if the Commission give them the ‘green light’ to do so. As soon as the announcement was made law firm Freshfields’ said the letter failed to provide the green light that the states were seeking and that it had received more of a “dark orange” verdict.
Local operator Jaxx, owners of mybet.com, said the EC’s letter signalled the “end of the road” for the treaty planned by 15 federal states, while a spokesman for bwin.party said the proposed state treaty had “failed again” calling the Schleswig-Holstein model “the future”.
Seven days in regulation:
Spain draws regulator replacement shortlist
Two state attorneys named as possible replacements for Juan Carlos Alfonso Rubio “ deputy general director of gaming management also departs.
A shortlist of two senior legal professionals has been drawn up by Spain’s Ministry of Economy & Finance to replace its recently departed gambling regulator, eGaming Review can reveal, with Carlos Hernández Riera said to be the preferred candidate according to two sources close to the matter.
Hernández Riera has been heavily linked to the position and could be installed by mid-April, with one source calling the move “a political appointment”. “This has not yet been confirmed by the official state bulletin”, the source added. “I think he will be join in mid-April after Easter, and in the meantime Laura Minguitos will continue to hold the role.”
Utah bans online poker and gambling
Governor Gary Herbert signs legislation allowing the state to opt out of future federal regulation
Utah has become the first US state to pass a pre-emptive bill ruling out any involvement in federal internet poker regulation.
The bill, initially introduced by Representative Stephen Sandstrom in January, was on the table for just two months before being signed into law by Governor Gary Herbert last week.
NetBet approved for sports and poker in France
Regulator ARJEL provides accreditation for parent company Itechsoft.
French company Itechsoft has received approval from French regulator ARJEL to offer poker and sports betting in the EU member state under its NetBet brand.
Under the terms of its licence it is permitted to serve customers via the netbet.fr, netbetsport.fr and netbetpoker.fr domains.
Bulgarian regulator wins case against mobile operator
Cosmo Bulgaria Mobil found to have run unlicensed text-based game.
The Bulgarian State Commission on Gambling has won a case against mobile operator Cosmo Bulgaria Mobil (Globul) after a court decreed that it had been offering an illegal gambling product.
The Administrative Court of Sofia City supported the Commission’s initial action against Globul, first issued in May 2010, according to Bulgarian news agency Novinite.
InstaDeal awarded Alderney licence
Network also set to announce new brands in coming weeks.
Poker network InstaDeal will begin working under a European licence from Q2 this year after receiving approval from the Alderney Gambling Control Commission.
It has also announced that it has signed five new brands to the network, all of which will begin offering its fast-paced poker product in cash games and freerolls in the coming weeks and months, with the company adding that “There has also been a lot of interest in our product from Tier 1 sportsbook operators recently”.
Founder Per Hildebrand launched InstaDeal after receiving legal opinions arguing that the concept behind Full Tilt Poker’s similar ‘Rush Poker’ product was never patentable.
Beneficial Holdings prepares Nevada application
Sportsbook.cr operator looking for JV partner in Silver State.
Beneficial Holdings, a company with online and land-based gambling operations in Central America, is set to apply for a Nevada intrastate gaming licence.
The company operates the Costa Rica-facing site, sportsbook.cr, as well as a number of land-based venues in Nicaragua.
However rather than launching its own operations in the Silver State, Beneficial intends to secure a joint venture partner, likely a land-based casino operator, before going live in the jurisdiction.
Some 21 companies have already applied for online gambling licences in Nevada, including bwin.party and Lottomatica.