Status: The enabling regulations that implement a Greek online gambling licensing regime are yet to be implemented. In 2012, a“ transition period” commenced whereby the Greek government granted 24 transitional licences to operators, enabling them to keep transacting with Greek residents. The fate of the 24 licences is still unclear, although the Hellenic Gaming Commission launched a consultation on the reform of the country’ s online gambling regulation in late 2017. Tax authorities in Greece are currently investigating the 24 licencees for taxes owed on operations from 2010-11.
HUNGARY
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports betting, horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo and lottery. Operator Type: Only the state monopolies( Szerencsejáték Zrt. and Magyar Lóversenyfogadást-SzervezőKft) and local concession companies can apply for a licence. Status: Amendments to Hungarian gambling law came into force on 1 October, 2015, which allow only two land-based casinos to hold remote casino concessions. The regulator has since issued fines, a number of which have been challenged, against unlicensed operators that continue to target the market. In June 2017, the ECJ determined Hungary’ s gambling regime to be incompatible with Article 56 TFEU. A subsequent ECJ decision in February 2018 ruled against the Hungarian requirement that online gambling operators must have a land-based licence to offer online gambling services to Hungarian citizens, further strengthening arguments that the current regime is incompatible with EU law. The Hungarian Ministry of Justice has stated its intention to continue to seek to enforce the existing regime despite the most recent ruling. A draft bill that would introduce payment-blocking measures was notified to the EC on 15 December, 2017, with the standstill period set to end on 16 March, 2018.
IRELAND
Regulated Gambling Products: Online gaming is not specifically accounted for in Ireland’ s outdated legislation and as such is currently unregulated.
Operator Type: Online betting regulated since August 2015. Status: Ireland is currently updating its legislation, which will create a comprehensive igaming regime and payment restrictions. In January 2018, the Irish Cabinet gave the go-ahead to draft a new version of a bill that was first proposed in 2013. However, Ireland’ s opposition party has tabled its own legislation to reform the country’ s gaming laws, citing a lack of progress by the government on its own bill. The Betting( Amendment) Act 2015 requires remote bookmakers to hold a licence and pay a 1 % turnover-based duty.
ITALY
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports betting, horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo and lottery. Operator Type: Fully regulated market. Status: The Stability Law 2016, passed in December 2015, introduces various measures affecting the remote gambling industry, including tax changes and tighter advertising rules. The law also provides for the award of 120 new online gaming licences. On 10 January, 2018, the Italian authorities published a call for tender for the allocation of the new licences. The deadline for applications is 19 March, 2018.
LUXEMBOURG
Regulated Gambling Products: Lottery. Operator Type: Monopoly. Status: The general prohibition on gambling appears sufficiently wide to cover all forms of online gambling.
MALTA
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports betting, horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo and lottery. Operator Type: Private operators can apply for a local licence( save for lottery products). Status: Following an announcement by the Malta Gaming Authority in 2015 that it was to modernise its online gambling rules, Malta published a white paper in 2017 proposing widespread reforms to its regulatory framework on gambling. The white paper seeks to replace the licensing system with two types of licence only( B2B and B2C). Subject to parliamentary approval, it looks likely that the new Gaming Act will come into force on 1 July, 2018.
NETHERLANDS
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports betting, horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo and lottery. Operator Type: Monopoly for all products. Status: The Dutch Lower House approved the Online Gambling Bill in mid-2016, which will introduce an online gambling licensing regime in the Netherlands. The legislation will impose a 29 % GGR tax on both online and land-based operators. The bill still requires approval from the Senate and licensing is not expected to commence until at least 2019. In the interim, the regulator continues to implement enforcement measures against operators targeting Dutch players and has announced that, as of 1 June, 2017, it would expand its approach to enforcement to pursue any operators that are“ specifically and unequivocally” targeting the Dutch market. The regulator has published a list of factors that it considers to indicate‘ targeting’, but expressly states that the list is non-exhaustive.
NORWAY
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports betting, horse race betting and lottery. Operator Type: Online gambling is reserved for its two monopoly providers, Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto. Status: The monopoly has extended its offering to include live betting, online bingo and casino games in an attempt to redirect traffic from unlicensed sites. The government published in March 2017 a long-awaited white paper on how best to regulate the gambling sector, which proposed that the gambling monopoly remain in place and no licensing system be introduced. The Norwegian regulator continues to step up enforcement efforts against unregulated operators, local banks and payment service providers.
POLAND
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports betting, horse race betting, casino and poker. Operator Type: Betting licences are available for companies with a representative in Poland. Casino and
64 iGB Affiliate Issue 68 APR / MAY 2018