WEBMASTER WORLD
Operator Type: Sports betting, poker
and casino licences are available to private
operators. Bingo, lottery and horse race
betting (fixed odds only) are controlled
by the state monopoly.
Status: The Danish online gambling regime
went live on 1 January, 2012. ISP-blocking
measures are active in the jurisdiction and
the Danish Gaming Authority has been
granted an injunction to block operators and
suppliers that have been targeting Danish
customers without the requisite licence.
Denmark recently passed amendments to
the country’s gambling legislation, opening
up online bingo and horse race betting
markets to private operators, effective from
1 January, 2018.
ESTONIA
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,
bingo and lottery.
Operator Type: Licences for all gambling
pro ducts are available to private operators
save for lotteries, which are reserved
exclusively for the monopoly operator.
Status: Operators seeking to accept
business from players in Estonia must
be issued an activity licence for the type
of gambling they wish to offer, then an
operating permit to provide the services
remotely. A blacklist of about 1,100
operators is maintained and updated by
local authorities, and ISP and payment
blocking is in force. Though some operators
argue that the regime is still not compatible
with EU law, there has been no open
challenge by the EC to date.
FINLAND
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,
bingo and lottery.
Operator Type: All gambling products
are under the exclusive control of
the three monopoly providers, Raha-
automaattiyhdistys (“RAY”), Fintoto Oy
and Veikkaus Oy. The monopolies merged
into one state entity on 1 January, 2017.
Status: An ECJ ruling confirmed that
Finland’s three monopoly providers are
legally permitted, which was subsequently
written into law. In November 2013,
the EC also withdrew infringement
proceedings. Active enforcement measures
are in place (restrictive marketing for
offshore operators and ISP blocking).
FRANCE
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, bingo
and lottery.
Operator Type: Private operators can obtain
online licences for sports betting, horse race
betting and poker. The monopoly has exclusive
rights to bingo and lottery.
Status: A regulated market since the
introduction of a licensing regime in
2010, following which the EC withdrew
its infringement proceedings. Parliament
announced a full review of French
gambling legislation in 2016, although
little progress has been made to date except
for changes to allow for international
poker liquidity and provisions relating to
the organisation of esports tournaments.
ARJEL has reached an agreement with
regulators from Portugal, Italy and Spain
to allow for international poker liquidity,
with the first licence to operate cross-border
shared liquidity granted in December 2017.
GERMANY
Regulated Gambling Products: Schleswig-
Holstein, a small Northern German state,
regulates sports betting, horse race betting,
poker, casino and bingo. The other 15
states of Germany currently permit only
sports betting and horse race betting.
Operator Type: Private operators can
no longer obtain licences in Schleswig-
Holstein, and those in existence will expire
on 30 June, 2019. In the other 15 states,
horse race betting licences are available at a
regional level, but the position surrounding
the 20 available sports-betting licences is
still uncertain.
Status: The licensing regime is in a state of
flux. The tender for 20 federal sports betting
licences was aborted, following a number
of appeals by operators that were not
granted a licence. The ECJ ruled in 2016
that Germany’s sports-betting regulation
was incompatible with EU law and that
enforcement actions would be unlawful
where none of the 20 licences could, in
practice, be acquired. The decision led
to calls for comprehensive legal reform
of Germany’s gambling legislation. In
March 2017, all 16 German states signed
amendments to the country’s gambling law,
which will allow for an unlimited number
of sports betting licences, although the ban
on online casinos will be upheld. However,
on 22 September, 2017, Schleswig-Holstein’s
state parliament voted against ratifying
these, with North-Rhine Westphalia and
Hesse since announcing their intention to
follow suit. Without full state support, the
intended changes did not take effect, further
delaying reform. A Federal Administrative
Court ruling on 26 October, 2017 upheld
the ban on online casinos and poker. The
ruling appears to have led to some action
by local regulators to seek to enforce the
prohibition on online casino by issuing
interdiction letters to operators. Payment-
blocking initiatives are also being pursued.
GREAT BRITAIN
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting, poker, casino,
bingo and lottery.
Operator Type: All licences are available
to private operators save for lottery, which
is reserved exclusively for the monopoly
provider, Camelot.
Status: Any operator that transacts with,
or advertises to, British residents requires a
licence from the Gambling Commission.
Licensed operators are required to source
gambling software from commission-
licensed businesses. Since 1 August, 2017,
the first use of free plays for remote gaming
will be taxed and winnings will be brought
into the duty calculation at the end of
the rewagering process. The Horserace
Betting Levy Regulations 2017 became
effective on 25 April, 2017, requiring all
gambling operators (including companies
based overseas) that offer bets to UK-based
bettors on horse racing in Great Britain to
pay a 10% levy on the profit on those bets
where that profit exceeds £500,000 a year.
GREECE
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports
betting, horse race betting and lottery.
Operator Type: All products are exclusively
reserved for the monopoly providers although
24 transitional licences for private operators
remain active, with all products permitted.
iGB Affiliate Issue 68 APR/MAY 2018
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