eGaming Review June 2014 - 121 | Page 9

/ THE BRIEFING / NEWS UK BELGIUM PLAYTECH CONFIRMS BELGIUM EXIT sPlaytech confirmed discussions held with the Belgium Gaming Commission led to its decision to pull the plug on its unlicensed Belgium-facing licensees. Operators such as Gala Interactive and William Hill notified affiliates that it would no longer be taking business from customers within the Belgian borders for “regulatory reasons”. Playtech said the withdrawals were prompted by an “agreement” reached between the software supplier and the local regulator to no longer support unlicensed Belgiumfacing activities. S PA I N SWEDEN SWEDEN TO REVEAL EGAMING PLANS IN AUTUMN sThe Swedish government will GERMANY TIPP24 DEFIANT DESPITE Q1 PROFIT WIPE OUT sGerman firm Tipp24 insisted it remains on course to meet full-year expectations despite witnessing a near wipe out of Q1 profits following investments into new markets and higher than expected payouts. The lottery provider saw net profit for the three months ending 31 March 2014 fall 98.5% to €109,000 from the €9m it recorded in the corresponding quarter last year despite a 9% rise in adjusted revenues to €35.2m. EUROPE UPDATE N E W decide this autumn how it will regulate its online gambling industry. Currently only Svenska Spel and horseracing betting firm ATG are able to offer regulated online gambling, but operators are hoping Sweden will adopt an open licensing framework similar to that of Denmark. A general election scheduled for mid-September means a decision is unlikely to be made before then, although the Ministry of Finance’s Carin Kappe said that it would be made by November. S EGAMING UPDATES BY COUNTRY W W W. E G R M A G A Z I N E . C O M 9