Regulation round-up 8 September 2015
The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (2 September to 8 September 2015)
Aus gambling review to focus on illegal operators
In-play and gaming not mentioned as part of upcoming review led by former New South Wales Premier
A federal review into Australia’s online gambling laws will focus on cracking down on the growth of illegal offshore operators, the minister for social services Scott Morrison announced yesterday, dampening hopes that the consultation would assess the feasibility of in-play betting.
The investigation will be spearheaded by the former premier of New South Wales Barry O’Farrell who will consult with various industry stakeholders and government departments to assess the overall impact of offshore wagering.
According to Morrison, wagering via unlicensed websites from outside Australia now accounts for 60% of the total AU$1.6bn (£730m) online gambling market and consists of approximately 2,000 websites beyond regulatory control.
“[Many companies] are now moving offshore leading to operators being able to avoid paying the product and other fees that assist with funding racing and sports facilities, integrity measures, prize money and participant payments and other operational costs,” Morrison said.
British regulator calls for licence fee review
Great Britain’s regulatory body is looking to change the fees it charges licensed operators and suppliers in order to more accurately reflect its expanded scope and related costs.
According to the Commission, a review of the fee structure is required so that government can “take account of the significant changes in the population of operators that we regulate” and address “identified problems in the current fees structure”, although said this would not necessarily result in a fee increase.
In order to kick-off the process, the regulator yesterday published a discussion paper in which it outlined a number of ways in which the current fee framework could be amended, including changes to licence categories and the establishment of formula to regularly calculate an appropriate fee rate.
Seven days in regulation:
Operators challenge Dutch regulator’s licensing process
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has lodged a complaint against the Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) which questions the legality of tender process for lottery and sports betting licences.
The trade body and several operators have begun an appeal process against the KSA, arguing that awarding licences to inter alia the Nationale Postcode Loterij and De Lotto violated EU competition law and private tender law.
Last year the regulator and the Dutch State Secretary of Justice extended the existing multi-year monopoly licences to the same providers for an additional two years from 1 January 2015 until January 2017.
Czech parliament lowers proposed tax rate
The tax hit for operators in the soon-to-be regulated Czech Republic market could be lower than expected after the government agreed on a proposal for a new 23% rate for sports betting.
The rate is higher than the existing 20% flat tax across all forms of gambling but lower than the original 25% the country’s Finance Ministry had targeted for a new regime which is set to enter into law at the start of next year.
According to a report in Czech business paper Hospodarske Noviny, the compromise could save major operators in the country, including Fortuna, hundreds of thousands of pounds.
Unlicensed market grows as Sweden plots re-regulation
Sweden’s unlicensed online market continues to grow according to new figures from the regulator Lotteriinspektionen as plans to open up the country begin to gather pace.
The Lotteriinspektionen reported that during H1 the unlicensed online market increased 5% to around SEK2bn (£157m) as punters abandoned land-based operations in favour of online.
The majority of the various gaming monopolies, led by Svenska Spel, reported declines in land-based revenues and increases in their online return, while there was a decline in marketing spend from both regulated and unregulated operators, with total spend down 9% to SEK1.5bn (£118m).