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MGA and Spelinspektionen Work on iGaming Regulation

Posted on March 6, 2019March 22, 2021 by Aran Malik

Sweden and Malta are going to collaborate in order to introduce a better control over the iGaming industry, the countries’ national regulators have said.

The MGA and Spelinspektionen sign a MoU
The regulators will exchange vital information
Sweden warns operators to comply with bonus policies

Sweden and Malta Collaborate on iGaming

The Spelinspektionen and the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) outlining the terms of a new cooperation.

The partnership will see the national watchdog focuses on exchanging key information across vital areas, allowing them to better enforce regulatory policies as well as uphold industry standards.

The move makes perfect sense since many companies offering iGaming products on the newly-regulated Swedish market also hold Maltese gaming licenses or have their technical hubs operating from the country.

Spelinspektionen Director Camilla Rosenberg commented on the new partnership and the opportunities to achieve better collaboration in the sector:

This is the beginning of a broad and long-term cooperation, and our plan is to initiate corresponding collaborations with more gambling authorities in Europe.

MGA Chief Executive Heathcliff Farrugia was no less enthusiastic about the new opportunity. According to him, the MGA was in a constant process of adding new and trustworthy process to help it carry out its regulatory mandate in full.

The MGA Suspends Bet Service Group License

Mr. Farrugia also noted that the nature of iGaming is increasingly cross-border, which means that regulators will have to find new ways to collaborate and exchange data quickly in order to effectively and efficiently provide guidance and apply penalties where necessary.

“This MoU, signed with the Swedish Gambling Authority, is an important step towards achieving both our respective regulatory goals in vital areas of mutual interest,” Mr. Farrugia explained.

Spelinspektionen and Bonus Rules

With the Swedish national dog looking to expand its efficiency, the Spelinspektionen has been cautioning companies over the use of bonuses. Sweden is taking a very sparing approach about promotional offers available at casinos.

As far as current law goes, iGaming operators may only offer a bonus to their customers the first time they sign-up, with no subsequent offers being permitted. However, the Spelinspektionen has established breach of that provision, prompting it to issue a warning against operators.

There has been also a pushback that the law concerning bonuses was ambiguous, giving some websites teeth to try and color around the lines.

What Will Closer Cooperation Between Malta and Sweden Mean?

Having the MGA and the Spelinspektionen work closely together is an important deterrent against future violation of existing iGaming provisions. If the two regulators work as one, their effectiveness increases while letting operators know that they are under more scrutiny.

Collaboration between regulators is important and it can bring online casino companies in line. In Australia, the country’s watchdog threatened companies operating without a proper Australian license that they would be reported to their respective regulators.

It worked and most of the big brands left along with what was over 30 illegal operators. More regulation is not always a bad thing, especially if done right.

UKGC to Further Step up Security Measures with ADRs

Posted on February 16, 2019 by Kat Orlov

UKGC plans to seek industry experts’ opinions to introduce ADRs
The Commission is seeking to step up the overall customer protection in the country

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) is tightening the control over online gambling companies. All of the recently proposed changes are sensible and for the better. Still, the UK’s governing gaming body wants to hear other opinions.

The UKGC to Consult Businesses and Experts about Planned Changes

No big change in the UK gambling climate is ever random or ill-considered. It requires a lot of coordination between business, regulators and politicians. True, the UKGC is not in the habit of always making its intents known beforehand, but it’s not trying to suffocate business either.

However, the UKGC is committed to protecting customers and that often means a rather more gung-ho approach towards bookmakers, lotteries, casinos and card rooms. So, who’s the UKGC reaching out to? Pretty much anyone with a skin in the game, including:

Consumers
Businesses
Industry experts

The Commission will discuss several proposed measures related to alternative dispute resolution (ADR), interaction, as well as new rules as to who can deposit & play and under what circumstances. The legal deadline to vet a customer is also going to be reduced as per the UKGC’s latest rules.

It’s Time to Add a Middleman

The Commission is actively seeking to brush up on the existing measures when it comes to handling complaints as well as introduce an ADR provider who will be able to sort through any disagreement between business and physical parties in the gambling segment.

The UKGC also wants to see operators offer other helpful tools, such as gambling blocking software, which would allow customers to completely opt out of certain gaming practices.

In the official statement the Commission released, UKGC Executive Director Paul Hope had the following to say:

We would like as many people as possible to have their say on these two consultations and the call for evidence. The proposed changes are intended to accelerate progress in protecting consumers and preventing them from experiencing gambling related harm.

The Commission recently announced another set of measures intended at tightening the security measures in the United Kingdom when it comes to gambling.

The Commission has been overhauling the existing regulation not least of all because the national self-exclusion scheme had been found to lack in certain ways, allowing customers to still bet after they had excluded themselves.

The UK Gambling Commission Recommends New Measures

“Making gambling fairer and safer is at the heart of how we regulate and better customer interaction, higher ADR standards and facilitating readily available blocking software are all part of this,” Mr. Hope added.

Toughening Legal Context This Year

The industry will undergo some significant changes this year. The Remote Gambling Duty (RGD) will go up to 21%, which is the break-line between lucrative businesses and struggling minnows.

The Fixed-Odds Betting Terminals (FOBTs) will also take a tumble down, to £2 per maximum bet in a bid to discourage people from burning life-ruining amounts of money. The measure has been welcomed by the government.

While the RGD will be changed in November, FOBTs will be re-adjusted in April.

The UK Gambling Commission Recommends New Measures

Posted on February 8, 2019February 8, 2019 by Grant Mahon

The UK Gambling Commission toughens identity measures and verification process
Measures intended at protecting children and vulnerable individuals
No free products available without registration & verification
Depositing funds will now require to verify a customer’s indentity

The UK Gambling Commission, the country’s regulator, has released a new set of rules and measures intended at better regulating the industry and protecting individuals from gambling harm.

The UK Gambling Commission’s Latest Security Measures

The UK Gambling Commission is the UK’s governing authority when it comes to iGaming, land-based gambling operations, sports betting, bingo parlours and poker cardrooms. The watchdog’s remit extends to issuing and enforcing regulations as well as investigating and issuing penalties to wrongdoers.

The Commission announced a new set of measures focusing on protecting consumers from various age groups by demanding from operators to identify individuals who register faster, ultimately for consumer’s best interest.

Making Gambling Safer for Everyone – Children Protected

In one of its latest surveys, the UK Gambling Commission revealed that the number of child gamblers quadrupled. The worrying trend has been reason enough for the country’s governing body to seek a way to bolster security measures when it comes to preventing underage gamblers from participating.

One such way, the UKGC believes, is by slashing the 72 hours grace period given to casinos to carry out verification checks confirming the identity of gamers. Up until now, customers were allowed to deposit funds and play, but not withdraw without proper verification. Here’s what UKGC Chief Executive Neil McArthur had to say:

These changes will protect children and the vulnerable from gambling-related harm, and reduce the risk of crime linked to gambling. They will also make gambling fairer by helping consumers collect their winnings without unnecessary delay.

Some industry leaders have applied the measure indiscriminately asking from players to verify their identity and address before they can proceed with gambling activity of any sort. Under the latest changes, the operators will have to conduct these mandatory checks before users can:

Deposit funds into an account
Gamble with the license with either their own money or a free bet or bonus

In other words, even the so-called free bets, free play and free spins are off limits for individuals who haven’t confirmed their identity. The Commission also requires all customers to be registered and confirm their identity before they can access even the free play version of any game.

Toughening Up on Identity and Criminal Activity

By introducing the new set of measures, the UKGC is hoping to effectively slash some of its own workload by creating very clear rules whereby operators and customers will be fully-informed what the depositing and withdrawing procedures are.

In the official press release, the UKGC wrote that 15% of all complaints regarding customers withdrawals were linked to operators requesting additional information from customers before they clear a transfer.

No such miscommunication will be possible once the new rules hit. The new measures will also help with keeping the national self-exclusion scheme, GamStop, in line. GamStop has been coming under additional scrutiny after BBC investigators confirmed that the system can be gamed rather easily, too.

Not least of all, operators must be readier to turn gamers from their betting shops, casinos and card rooms, after they’ve established that a person

Irish Authorities to Intensify Crackdown on Illegal Gambling

Posted on December 24, 2018December 24, 2018 by Aran Malik

Ireland’s long-awaited crackdown on illegal gambling operations has been one of the most discussed topics in the global gaming industry this year. With so much more said than done, the country’s local authorities have decided to expand the crackdown on unlawful gambling activities and unlawful casinos in Dublin despite the fact that a gambling control bill meant to control that very thing has seen hardly any progress for over half a decade now.

Initially revealed in October, the Revenue Commissioners decided to expand its crackdown on some Dublin-based illegal casinos. In fact, according to the country’s finance minister, the process of removal of the illegal gambling machines from various premised had already begun. Apparently, gambling machines that did not have the required operating licenses had spread in Ireland’s capital city and this was becoming even more clear this year and this is what prompted the now intensified crackdown – these illegal terminals violated existing laws that banned the above-mentioned terminals. The casinos offering such terminals had violated a directive of the Dublin City Council as well as some rules that had been imposed by the Revenue Commissioners.

The city council directive mentioned above was established back in 1988 and it stated that gambling licenses cannot be provided in Dublin. This move forced the local casino operators to file applications for amusement licenses, which as per the regulations of the city, are subjected to much lower regulators control.

Is Gambling Addiction in Ireland Getting Out of Hand?

As media reports emerged that a few premises in Dublin that have been offering illegal gambling services have been served with enforcement letters by the Revenue Commissioners but there is something that seems to be even more concerning. According to Irish experts from the Limerick-based Saoirse Addiction Treatment Centre, there has been an increase in gambling addiction in the country – it is one of the biggest problems in the country’s gambling sector.

Industry experts believe that there has been an increasing popularity of online gambling among the younger generation and when this is combined with the rather obvious lack of adequate regulation it becomes an even more serious problem. Problem gambling specialists have often pointed out that there are literally infinite opportunities to gamble on the online space and the fact that problem gambling can go on for long makes it very dangerous.

In 2015, the National Advisory Committee on Drugs and Alcohol (NACDA) commissioned a report that revealed that close 65 percent of adults gambled that year. Keeping this mind, the Revenue Commissioners have in the past few years had to intensify their efforts towards casino industry crackdowns regarding mostly the unlicensed gaming machines.