EUROPEAN REGULATION
move forward with the stalled regulations, having
previously expressed concerns about proposals to
introduce back-taxes and impose a limitation on the
number of licences that will be made available.
HUNGARY
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports betting,
horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo and lottery.
Operator Type: Only the state monopoly,
Szerencsejáték Zrt. 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. State monopoly operator
Szerencsejáték Zrt alone may offer sports betting
and only the state monopoly provider Magyar
Lóversenyfogadást-SzervezőKft can offer online
horse race betti ng under the new law. The regulator
has since issued fines against unlicensed operators
who continue to target the market. ISP blocking
of unlicensed sites has occurred since June 2014.
The potential for EC infringement proceedings
remains.
IRELAND
Regulated Gambling Products: Online gaming is
not specifically accounted for in Ireland’s outdated
legislation and as such is currently unregulated.
Online betting regulated since August 2015.
Status: Ireland is in the process of updating its
legislation which will create a comprehensive
online gambling regime and payment restrictions.
The Betting (Amendment) Act 2015 now requires
remote bookmakers to hold a licence, and pay a 1%
turnover-based betting duty.
ITALY
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports betting,
horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo and lottery.
Operator Type: All products available to private
operators save for lottery which is reserved for the
monopoly provider. However, it is currently not
possible to obtain a licence in Italy.
Status: Fully regulated market. Previous
restrictions on the type of events/markets on
Sponsored by
which bookmakers can offer odds are possibly
to be abolished. A recently passed Stability Law
introduces various measures affecting the remote
gambling industry, including tax changes and
plans for tighter advertising rules. The law will
provide for the award of 120 new online gaming
licences (lasting for six years), the tender for which
will begin on 31 July 2016. The government also
moved to a GGR-based tax for online betting
operators (22%), with effect from 1 January.
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, lottery.
Operator Type: Private operators can apply for a
local licence but not in relation to lottery products.
Status: On 3 June 2015, Maltese regulator the
Malta Gaming Authority introduced a number of
policy changes. These include changes regarding
hosting servers abroad, audit requirements and
the cloud environment. Malta plans to introduce
gambling legislation during 2016 to modernise
online gambling rules.
NETHERLANDS
Regulated Gambling Products: Sports betting,
horse race betting, poker, casino, bingo, lottery.
Operator Type: Monopoly for all products.
Status: The Remote Gambling Act was published
in May 2013, which stipulates the conditions which
operators will be able to offer online gambling
in the Netherlands. The Remote Gambling Act
has now received approval from the Council of
Ministers and the Secretary of State, paving the
way for its implementation. Due to political issues,
licences are now unlikely to be awarded until
2017. The government’s recent announcement to
set online gambling duty at 29% (in line with the
offline tax rate) has faced industry criticism.
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