NEW DATE | GiH webinar: “The Dutch online market opening & beyond”
Due to unforeseen circumstances, we have decided postpone the upcoming GiH webinar “The Dutch online market opening & beyond” by one week to Wednesday, January 19 at 15:00 CET.
We hope to see you then for an in-depth discussion of the first three months of operations of the regulated Dutch online market.
Topics:
· Licenses granted & denied
· Start-up problems & issues
· Advertising impact & consequences
· License applications: Lessons learned
· Practicalities: Tips & tricks
· Next steps
The webinar will feature the Netherlands’ leading gaming lawyer Justin Franssen, Head of the Gaming & Gaming Practice Group at Kalff Katz & Franssen. Other speakers TBA shortly.
Register today: https://bit.ly/3pjVtu3
Please note: If you already signed up, there is no need to re-register for the new date.
Dutch Lower House adopts motion that could lead to further gambling advertising restrictions
Yesterday, the Dutch Lower House near-unanimously adopted a motion sponsored by MPs Mirjam Bikker (CU) and Michiel van Nispen (SP) calling on the government to investigate how, and to what extent, minors are currently being exposed to gambling advertisements shown online and on TV.
The motion specifically refers to the current absence of a pre-watershed ban on gambling advertising shown online, contrary to a previously stated wish by the legislature.
Strictly speaking, the adopted motion only calls on the government to investigate to what extent minors are being exposed to gambling advertising, in particular through online channels. However, the obvious intent of the motion is to restrict the times at which gambling advertisements are permitted to be shown online.
As has been widely predicted, the increase in gambling advertising following the opening of the regulated Dutch online market has led to significant media attention.
So far, licensed operators and industry associations have been unable to agree on an advertising code that would also be acceptable to other public stakeholders.
Netherlands Gambling Authority: “Gaming arcades fail to meet addiction prevention requirements”
Following random checks in twenty land-based gaming arcades, the Netherlands Gambling Authority has found that these venues have generally not yet fully implemented all addiction prevention measures required by the new Remote Gaming Act.
Although the obligation to check whether visitors are registered in CRUKS, the national exclusion register, has generally been implemented satisfactorily, other requirements, for instance regarding the registration of players’ visiting frequency or time spent gambling, have generally not been fully met.
However, the Dutch regulator also notes that many of the visited venues are currently in the process of implementing a visitor registration system that meets the new legal requirements.
Netherlands Gambling Authority shuts down illegal bingo Facebook Group
The Netherlands Gambling Authority has shut down a Facebook group, titled “Dordtse Queens,” that organized illegal online bingo games.
The group was run by eight administrators, who promoted illegal bingo games through the group, attracting almost 10,000 members, including minors.
The KSA reported the matter to Facebook, which removed six pages affiliated with the group.
Tripling of corporate tax rates could impact Malta's position as international gaming hub
Almost 20 large foreign companies may have to start paying three times as much tax as they do now once Malta is forced to introduce a new minimum corporate tax rate in 2023, the Times of Malta reports.
Earlier this year, the Organisation of Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) agreed that its members should institute a minimum 15% corporate tax rate for companies with annual revenues in excess of €750m.
Malta government sources said that between 18 and 20 international companies, which employ thousands of people in industries such as gaming and corporate services, could see their tax exposure increase from five to 15% as a result of the agreement.
According to cabinet sources, the Maltese government is already shifting its foreign direct investment focus towards attracting international companies that do not meet the €750 million revenue threshold set by the OECD.
“We will have to direct our efforts towards attracting these sorts of companies now,” the source said.
Upcoming events
The following events may be of interest to the GiH community.
The Betting on Sports America conference and expo has been scheduled for 30 November – 2 December, 2021 and will bring together all the major players in the fast-growing North American sports betting industry.
The World Gaming Executive Summit is returning live on 6 – 8 December, 2021 at the W Hotel, Barcelona.
ICE London and iGB Affiliate London have been scheduled to take place 1 – 3 February, 2022.
Netherlands Gambling Authority received 33 remote license applications
The Dutch government has published an initial report on the country's regulated online market. The report looks at developments between October 1, 2021 and November 1, 2021.
The government simultaneously released two other reports, including a zero measurement of the Dutch gambling market prior to the opening of the regulated online market, as well as a brief synthesis of the available knowledge and insights on gambling addiction.
Regarding recent developments in the Netherlands' regulated online market, several points stand out.
Profit warnings as a result of market withdrawals by several major international operators appear to indicate that the size of the unregulated Dutch online market was ca. 40% larger than originally expected (€814m in annual GGR on October 1, 2021, rather than €579m, according to updated figures provided by H2).
On November 1, 2021, the Netherlands Gambling Authority has received a total of 33 license applications, of which eleven have now been approved. Several applications are still under consideration. The number of rejected applications has not been made public.
So far, the withdrawal of several (as of yet) unlicensed international operators from the Dutch online market does not appear to have led to an increase of web traffic to so-called “cowboy” operators (black market operators by choice).
The full report is available here.
Other news
CasinoNieuws has published an extensive interview with Björn Fuchs, Chief Digital Officer of Janshen-Hahnraths Group.
Trade association VNLOK is looking to hire a senior policy officer/secretary.
888 Holdings has secured antitrust regulatory clearance to finalize its takeover of William Hill's non-US assets.
Scientific Games has strengthened its iGaming content offering and production capabilities with the acquisition of Stockholm-based ELK Studios.
Match-fixing appears to be prominent in friendly football matches, a three-year study led by the University of Nicosia finds.