Legal & compliance – Page 13

January 3, 2023

Top Sport handed another fine in Lithuania

Lithuania’s Gambling Supervisory Authority has issued Top Sport with another fine after it was again found to have breached regulations in the country regarding CCTV at its retail betting facilities.

Top Sport was fined €15,000 (£13,273/$15,854) over the improper installation of a digital video recording system at a betting and slots location in Vilnius.

During an inspection, the Authority found that the image quality of videos was poor and the actions of employees working at the cash desk in the facility were not clearly visible in the footage.

The Authority also said that the way the video cameras were installed meant it was not always possible to see how much money was being paid in by and out to customers.

This, the regulator said, was in breach of Article 15, Paragraphs 2 and 3 of the Lithuanian Law on Gambling.

In addition, the Authority said certain parts of video recording at the betting facility were not saved, which constituted a further breach of regulations, namely P..

December 21, 2022

Industry insiders say New York Times series paints unfair picture

State lawmakers and stakeholders in the gaming industry have taken aim at the New York Times for its critical reporting on the expansion of US sports betting just as the industry met in Las Vegas to discuss best practices related to responsible and problem gaming. By Buck Wargo.

In late November, the New York Times, in a year-long investigation, outlined how the industry lobbied state officials with gifts and contributed millions in campaign donations to spur expansion after the repeal of PASPA in 2018.

The series depicted how ads on television and websites for making bets had become unavoidable and outlined the consequences to public health, taxpayers and the sports world.

The Times wrote that lawmakers gave out tax exemptions, which ultimately subsidised operators’ luring of patrons with free bets and other promotions, and found promises of tax revenue haven’t materialised.

When it comes to responsible gaming, the New York Times said the industry has been “creative in devising wa..

December 20, 2022

BetMGM granted Massachusetts betting licence, but with strings attached

BetMGM and MGM Springfield have both been granted sports betting licences from the Massachusetts Gaming Commission (MGC), but conditions were attached to the licence of the former.

Issued with a category 1 sports wagering operator licence for Massachusetts, MGM Springfield is now allowed to operate betting at a land-based facility, as well as on up to two online platforms.

One of its online skins will be provided by BetMGM – an MGM-Entain joint venture – which was also awarded a temporary category 3 sports wagering operator licence. However, this came only under certain conditions.

BetMGM and MGM Springfield had initially applied individually for a Massachusetts sports betting licence. However, the relationship between the two entities created complications as MGM Springfield initially answered questions on the application with reference to BetMGM’s documentation.

As a result, the regulator delayed the vote on approving the licences until yesterday (19 December).

Massachusetts re..

December 19, 2022

Player receives €14,000 in German illegal sports betting reimbursement case

The Köln Regional Court has confirmed that a player has been reimbursed for €14,000 (£12,195/$14,845) after placing bets with unlicensed sports betting operator Brivio Limited.

The plaintiff had participated in sports betting on Vulcanvegas.com between 2020 and 2022. This website is operated by Brivio Limited, which is based in Cyprus.

The plaintiff’s losses were estimated to be €14,000.

Unlike previous cases, which dealt with activity before the Fourth State Treaty on Gambling came into effect in Germany, this case included activity up to 2022.

Brivio Limited did not have a licence to operate before or after the Treaty took effect, meaning that its post-treaty activity was also illegal.

Reimbursement

The court said that the operator had violated the State Treaty on Gambling as it did not have a licence to operate.

The judgement was made by default as Brivio Limited did not defend itself against the lawsuit in court.

As well as being ordered to pay the losses, Brivio Limited m..

November 28, 2022

Kahnawàke council launches legal challenge against Ontario igaming laws

The Mohawk Council of Kahnawàke (MCK) has launched a constitutional challenge against iGaming Ontario and the attorney-general of Ontario, arguing that the province’s regulation of gambling is unconstitutional.

The Council – which runs its own gambling licensing regime – said that the Ontario regime did not meet the requirements for gambling outlined in Canada’s constitution.

As a result, it has filed a motion in the Ontario Superior Court of Justice to challenge the legality of Ontario’s igaming framework, which it said was “illegal and unconstitutional”.

Ontario igaming legal status

Commercial betting and gaming are legal in Canada only if it is “conducted and managed” by a provincial government. While in most provinces that offer online gambling, the government runs a monopoly, Ontario instead launched a licensed regime this year, with more than 30 different licensed operators so far.

While a specific definition of conducting and managing is not provided, the Mohawk Council of ..

November 28, 2022

Dutch operators under tax investigation for pre-2021 activities

The Dutch government has published a memo revealing that – as of last year – eight operators were under tax investigation for their activities in the country before it regulated online gambling, with authorities planning to look into seven more.

The memo was dated 28 October 2021 – four weeks after the Dutch online gambling market launched. The memo was written by the Corporate Service for Professional Technology (CD VT) within the Tax and Customs Administration and was sent to “Dutch online gambling companies”.

It was revealed last week following a freedom of information request.

The memo said that – prior to the launch of regulated online gambling – a number of operators made money from the Netherlands that should have been subject to tax, but that these taxes were not paid.

These companies, it said, were in practice based in the Netherlands but on paper were listed as being from other countries in order to escape taxes.

In particular, the companies with unpaid tax bills were t..

November 28, 2022

World Series of Politics Episode 8: Midterms, Maryland, Minnesota and Texas

In episode eight of the World Series of Politics, Brendan Bussmann of B Global Advisors and Brandt Iden, now Fanatics Betting and Gaming's newly appointed vice-president of government affairs, take on California, Minnesota, Texas and Maryland.

We kick off this week’s podcast by congratulating Brandt Iden, who has taken on a major new role as vice-president of government affairs for Fanatics Betting and Gaming.

California sports betting hopes crash land

Our dynamic duo start off by picking over the wreckage of California’s sports betting ballot measures, reflecting on what went so disastrously wrong.

Is Minnesota in play?

Next they run the rule on the other states where the Midterms have heralded change. Brandt is surprised by the Democrats’ clean sweep in the Gopher State, but that could create opportunities for the industry.

The party’s strong relationship with the tribes facilitate legal Minnesota sports betting in 2023. Remember, there’s more on the Midterms from Brenda..

November 25, 2022

GB gross gambling yield recovers to almost £10bn in 2021-22

Great Britain’s gross gambling yield (GGY), excluding lotteries, increased 16.5% to £9.93bn ($12.0bn/€11.53bn)
from April 2021 to March 2022.

The figures were supplied through industry research from the Gambling Commission.

While this is a significant rise, the total is 0.8% below the 2019-20 numbers, which mostly occurred pre-pandemic. Despite the increase in the headline numbers since this, the Commission reports that the number of bettors in the sector have fallen.

“Since Covid-19 restrictions were lifted in 2021 and products and opportunities to gamble are available to consumers again, the overall percentage of the adult population who gamble remains lower than it was pre-Covid (28%),” said the Commission.

This can be explained by gaming spend increasing to a proportionally larger extent than the number of consumers. However, as the Commission outlines, there are strong signs of increased participation in gambling activities from younger demographics.

“There are signs of a r..

November 23, 2022

Maryland’s regulated sports betting market officially opens

Maryland’s online sports betting market is officially live, with seven operators now active in the state as of today (23 November).

Barstool, BetRivers, BetMGM, Caesars, DraftKings, FanDuel and PointsBet can now accept wagers in the state.

Caesars and DraftKings launched before the regulated market officially opened, in preparation for the imminent commencement.

Read the full story on iGB North America

November 23, 2022

Swedish monopolies carving out their place in the market

In the second part of Daniel O’Boyle’s deep dive into the changing role of Sweden’s gambling monopolies, ATG CEO Hasse Lord Skarplöth and Svenska Spel CEO Patrik Hofbauer discuss how their businesses have evolved since re-regulation.

When the new Gambling Act came into force in 2019, Svenska Spel and AB Trav och Galopp (ATG) face licensed competition online for the first time. They underwent many changes themselves.

2019: a new era for Swedish gambling regulation

For Svenska Spel the changes were mostly aimed at preventing the business from using its former monopoly status to gain an unfair leg-up in online betting and gaming.

Sweden launched its regulated gambling market in January 2019

This necessitated major changes, Hofbauer recalls.

“The biggest change was to adjust the whole organisation and operations to be in line with the re-regulated gambling legislation. Today Svenska Spel operates as a group with three separate business areas.

“And an important factor in that was c..

November 22, 2022

Industry slams NYT sports betting coverage

On Sunday, the New York Times (NYT) published an article on sports betting lobbying efforts, which has been criticised by industry trade groups and individuals as including “several mischaracterisations”.

Titled “Cigars, Booze, Money: How a Lobbying Blitz Made Sports Betting Ubiquitous”, the article makes the argument that the gambling sector “got their way with lawmakers after showering them with donations, gifts and dubious arguments”.

This assertion has been criticised by a number of US-based trade organisations, who pointed to the already stringent regulatory environment and the industry-wide commitments to responsible gaming.

Criticised by trade bodies

In a statement published on LinkedIn, the American Gaming Association (AGA) said that the NYT had made “several mischaracterisations” in the article, and emphasised that there is a high standard for obtaining gaming licences in the US.

“As unapologetic advocates for our industry, the AGA engages with the New York Times and any..

November 18, 2022

The view from Latvia

More than two years on from the country shutting down all legal gambling for two months, what is the current state of the Latvian market? iGB talks to TonyBet Latvia and Estonia country manager Valters Rozmanis to find out more.

It’s one of those thought experiments that naturally comes up from time to time in this industry – what would happen if a country just abolished gambling overnight?

How would consumers adjust? Would they abstain entirely or move in droves to the unregulated black market, outside the remit of both the taxman and a socially responsible regulator?

Latvia provides something of a natural experiment in this regard. In April 2020, as the first wave of Covid-19 lockdown measures were announced, fearing for the wellbeing of their citizens, the 40th government of Latvia announced a complete ban on all forms of online and land-based gambling.

The shutdown, which ran from 6 April to 9 June, pitted a modern, digital-savvy European country against the mawing forces of th..

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Tag: Legal & compliance