POLAND
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting and horse race betting.
Operator Type: Licences are only
available for companies with a local
establishment.
Status: New legislation enacted on 1
January 2012 only permits betting and
only four licences have been granted to
local companies (Fortuna, Milenium,
STS and Totolotek).
Recently published amendments to
Poland’s Gambling Act remove the
requirement to incorporate a separate
Polish limited liability or joint stock
company, making it easier for offshore
operators to obtain betting licences.
Further, the draft amendments also
permit the organisation of numeric
games online (only relevant for
Totalizator Sportowy which has the
monopoly) and online poker. The EU
standstill period, which was extended for
a further month following the receipt by
Poland of a Detailed Opinion from the
European Commission (EC) expired on
6 March. The Polish government will
now consider whether to make further
changes to the draft law, in light of
comments received from the Commission,
or pass it without amendment (risking
further infringement actions).
In November, in an increased effort
to narrow the grey market, the Polish
government initiated more than 1,100
criminal investigations against players
using unlicensed gambling sites, who
face up to three years’ imprisonment.
PORTUGAL
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,
bingo, lottery.
Operator Type: Monopoly for all
products, but changes imminent.
Status: Portugal’s online gambling
legislation was passed by Parliament in
late February and, at the time of writing,
awaits the confirmatory signature of the
President . While operators will have
the ability to apply for licences (that
will be issued in the latter part of 2015)
their Portuguese revenue streams will be
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iGB Affiliate Issue 50 APR/MAY 2015
subject to comparatively high tax rates,
particularly sports betting, the subject of
a 8 - 16% tax on turnover.
ROMANIA
Regulated Gambling Products: Mutual
horse racing, mutual sports betting
and lottery.
Operator Type: Regulation pending
Status: The Romanian government passed
legislation at the very end of 2014 that
allows entities within the EU to apply for
a licence, imposes a reform on licence fees
and eliminates many (but not all) of the tax
burdens placed on player revenues. The law
came into force on 13 February, but still
needs to be signed off by the Romanian
Parliament. Secondary legislation,
setting out the details and requirements
for licensing, was notified to the EC in
April, and will be subject to a three-month
standstill period due to expire on 10 July
2015. Once implemented, operators will be
entitled to apply for licences and continue
to trade during a transitional period,
currently expected to end on 1 August.
The proposed amendment includes
a requirement for operators to pay
a retrospective tax of 20% of GGR
generated from Romanian players,
however confusion still exists around the
time period for which the tax would
be applied.
SLOVAKIA
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,
bingo, lottery.
Operator Type: All products are
operated by the monopoly save that landbased sports betting operators can offer
services online due to a legal loophole.
Status: No developments are anticipated
in the short term.
SLOVENIA
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,
bingo, lottery.
Operator Type: Online gambling must be
operated by land-based casinos or lotteries
and, as a result, only the monopoly holds
online licences in Slovenia.
Status: Slovenia has published a new draft
gambling law but it seeks to reserve its
restrictive position on gambling. The law
has not yet been voted on in parliament
and a timeline for implementation
is unclear.
SPAIN
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse