Research Services
Modernisation of Games of Chance

A research project investigating remote games of chance and
land-based casino regulations in a number of jurisdictions.
Prepared for the Ministry of Justice & Security, Netherlands.

MODERNISATION OF
OF GAMES
GAMES OF
OF CHANCE
CHANCE
MODERNISATION

August 2014

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

About this research project
Contents
About this research project

3

Sources

4

Part 1: Remote Games of Chance
Category 1. Regulation of remote games of
chance in EU member states
Category 2. Definition of remote games of
chance
Category 3. Permitted payment methods
Category 4. Policies towards free play and social
gaming in which money cannot be cashed out
Category 5. Regulations around the use of
games on multi-platform devices
Category 6. Regulations around live betting and
in-play betting
Category 7. Regulation of digital TV gaming and
gambling
Category 8. Policies in terms of transition
periods between pre-regulatory and regulated
environments, with reference to player
accounts/blackout periods, etc
Category 9. Jackpot limits, minimums and
measures in place to guarantee payment
Category 10. Regulatory approaches towards
multi-currency payment
Category 11. Provisions addressing player
accounts in terms of minimum/maximum
balance
Category 12. Policies specifically aimed at young
adults
Category 13. Regulations regarding storage and
disposal of player information
Category 14. Regulations regarding the payment
of bank guarantees by licensees
Category 15. Regulations on auto-play and
automatically logging off
Category 16. Regulation on poker/liquidity
Category 17. Regulations on umbrella/
organisational licensing
Category 18. Which regulatory provisions are
applicable to bonuses?

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Part 2: Land-Based Casinos
Category 1. Legislation, supervision and
general licensing?
Category 2. Taxation and fees
Category 3. Licensing specifics
Category 4. Player protection and responsible
gambling
Category 5. Information to players,
advertising, staff training, operating hours
and location requirements
Category 6. Anti-money laundering and
terrorist financing, staff AML training
Category 7. Compliance and enforcement

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GamblingCompliance Research Services
(GamblingCompliance) was commissioned by the Ministry
of Justice & Security, Netherlands, to research gambling
legislation and regulatory frameworks for both land-based
casino gambling and online gambling. The results of this
research are contained in this report, with an additional
sources document also prepared. The report was
researched between May and August 2014 and is broken
down into two main parts answering over 150 questions:

from September 2007. The UK recognised the right of EU/
EEA and Gibraltar licensees to advertise and therefore
take custom from UK players, while also publishing a
so-called “white-list” of jurisdictions (Alderney, Antigua
and Barbuda, Isle of Man, and Tasmania) with equivalent
advertising rights. The UK is changing to a point of
consumption framework from October 2014 and has
much material available to provide insight into regulatory
experiences from a jurisdiction in transition.

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Land-Based Casinos

Part 1: Remote Games of Chance
Part 2: Land-Based Casinos

78

Jurisdictions

91

The jurisdictions covered represent relevant case studies
covering key aspects of regulation and regulatory
experiences.

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101

Austria: Following a Court of Justice of the European
Union ruling, Austria faced the need to amend its
casino legislation to bring it in line with European law
requirements. Austria also recently conducted tender
processes for all 15 casino licences available in the
jurisdiction, with the latest tender wins being announced
in June 2014.

Briefly, the jurisdictions researched were as follows.

Denmark: Denmark modernised both its online
gambling framework and land-based casino framework
concurrently. Both sets of regulations are relatively new
and the jurisdiction therefore provides relevant regulatory
experiences, with issues such as differential taxation
regimes, player protection and harm minimisation
considerations.

Remote Games of Chance
Belgium: A pioneer of the so-called Belgium model or
“licence + model” in which online authorisations are tied
to land-based authorisations. Although heavily criticised
by the industry and subject to European Commission
scrutiny, Belgium has defended its model. Of note, online
gambling expansion in the US state of New Jersey has
implemented a model similar to that installed by Belgium.

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34
35

Denmark: Similar to Italy and France, another European
member state which introduced point of consumption
regulations with licences live from January 2012. Due to its
smaller population, Denmark has introduced regulations
which have addressed international liquidity among other
measures to ensure attractive and competitive products to
those available on the black market.

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46
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53

Editing

Laurie Korpi
Rita Gyaraki
Luis Guil
Pauline de Zeeuw
Gergana Semerdzhieva
Jeannine Weissel

Switzerland: Switzerland updated its casino regulations
in 2000, overturning a prohibition. As such the country’s
regulations are modern and detailed.

France: France introduced ring-fenced regulations with
licences live for the FIFA 2010 World Cup in South Africa.
While France’s regulations are influenced by Italy’s
approach, there are significant differences, not least being
the more restrictive product offering and a dedicated
online gambling regulator.

52

Authors

United Kingdom: Like Denmark, the UK modernised
its gambling regulations under the Gambling Act 2005.
However, some previous gambling law casino licences
have remained in place, while new casinos have been
rolled out under the 2005 legislation. As with online
gambling regulations, the jurisdiction provides material
which regulating jurisdictions can study and learn from.

Hannah Frost
Louise Coleman

Canada: Canada is internationally renowned in the
gambling industry for its emphasis on player protection
and harm minimisation, with many casinos ‘conduct and
manage’ by the state under exclusive rights but managed
on a day to day basis by private companies in publicprivate partnerships. The jurisdiction therefore provides an
alternate regulatory model to that which is in place across
much of Europe.

Italy: The first European jurisdiction to implement a
local licensing or ring-fenced regulation at the point of
consumption in 2007/2008. Subsequently, Italy has
continued to refine its regulations as well as expand
regulated products. Italy’s approach to regulation has
proven influential across Europe.

In addition to the main jurisdictions researched
additional commentary has been provided from the
regulatory experiences of Alderney, Estonia, Greece,
New Jersey, Singapore, Spain, as well as European antimoney laundering directives, and material available to
GamblingCompliance.

United Kingdom: The UK implemented liberal
regulations via the Gambling Act 2005, with licences live

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Sources
Research was conducted into the main gambling laws
pertaining to online gambling and land-based casinos. To
provide context and where possible, legislative context
and reasoning, contemporaneous documents have
been sourced, as well as insights from academic papers.
Importantly, GamblingCompliance sought input from
some regulators, with the questions answered contained
in the accompanying source document.

Part One

For the UK in particular analysis of that jurisdiction’s
publically available Licensing Codes and Conditions
of Practice (LCCP) were included, as these form a
fundamental part of the UK framework and unique
across the jurisdictions researched. This is because
some of the codes are considered licence conditions,
therefore forming a fundamental pillar of regulation.
The legal base for issuing the codes is found in Section
24 of the Gambling Act 2005 and go to the heart of the
UK’s licensing objectives (these three objectives are:
“ensuring that gambling is conducted in a fair and open
way, protecting children and other vulnerable persons
from being harmed or exploited by gambling, and making
assistance available to persons who are or may be
affected by problems related to gambling”). In particular
the codes are formed of:
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Remote Games of Chance

Social responsibility code provisions: these must be
adhered to by all licensees.
Ordinary code provisions: while not taking on the
status of licence conditions, if these codes are
contravened, this can be used as evidence in criminal
or civil cases.

Included in the research project is a sourcing document
containing references and, where possible, links to
underlying laws, regulations, codes, technical standards
and other documents.

Use of this information
In preparing this report, Gambling Compliance Ltd has made every effort to ensure the accuracy of its contents. However, no representation or warranty, express or
implied, is given as to the accuracy or completeness of its information.
Readers, or their associated government or corporate entity, that rely on any information in this report do so entirely at their own risk. Gambling Compliance Ltd and
its employees do not accept or assume any liability, responsibility or duty of care for any consequences of you or anyone else acting, or refraining to act, in reliance on
the information contained in this report.
This report is no substitute for local legal advice in each jurisdiction covered. Before acting or refraining to act on any information you read in this report, it is strongly
recommended that you obtain independent legal advice.
©Copyright 2014 Gambling Compliance Ltd
All rights reserved. The intended use of this report is for purchasers only. No part of this report may be: (i) copied, photocopied or duplicated in any form by any
means; or (ii) redistributed or republished without the prior written consent of Gambling Compliance Ltd Terms and conditions can be found at http://www.
gamblingcompliance.com/page/terms-and-conditions.

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Category 1. Regulation of remote games of chance in
EU member states

Category 2. Definition of remote games of chance

1.1 Which EU member states have explicitly
regulated remote games of chance?

2.1 Does national legislation provide for a
definition of the term “remote games of
chance”?

GamblingCompliance Commentary
The majority of EU member states have given
legislative and regulatory consideration to the
regulation of remote gaming. While various
regulatory frameworks are in existence, there is a
clear trend to license online gambling at the point
of consumption (operators requiring licences from
the jurisdiction in which a player accesses remote
gambling websites). This point of consumption
or local licensing approach to regulation was
pioneered by Italy over 2007/2008, and similar (but
not identical models) have been implemented by
France, Denmark, Spain, and soon to be regulated
markets such as Portugal, among others. The UK,
which implemented a more open market, permitting
EU/EEA and Gibraltar licensed operators, along
with operators from certain white-listed markets
(Alderney, Antigua and Barbuda, Isle of Man, and
Tasmania) to advertise in the jurisdiction, is, through
the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014,
moving to point of consumption regulation and
accompanying taxation. This year has seen many
draft laws notified to the European Commission,
either seeking to make wholesale changes to
gambling frameworks or further enhance current
regulatory regimes.

Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech
Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Greece,
Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Netherlands,
Norway, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovakia, Slovenia,
Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom.
GamblingCompliance Commentary
Please note that these member states have
regulation on online gambling. Some member
states however provide for a monopoly or do not
allow private operators to offer online gambling.

1.2 Which EU member states are in the process
of explicitly regulating remote games of
chance?
Ireland, Netherlands, Portugal and Lithuania.
The UK is in the process of changing from an open
market to a local licensing (regulation at the point of
consumption) to be effective from October 1, 2014 (with
taxation applicable from December 1, 2014).
EEA member state Switzerland is also in the process
of regulating online gambling. The activity is currently
prohibited.

and, in general, all operations available to the public,
under any name whatsoever, that give rise to the hope of
a gain that would be even partially due to chance and for
which a financial sacrifice is required from the participants
by the operator.”
(Article 2 of the Online Gambling Act 2010, modified by
article 148 of Law n°2014-344 of March 17, 2014)

Belgium: Yes. Section 2(1) of the Gaming Act defines a
game of chance as: “any game for which a stake of any
kind is placed, resulting in either the loss of the stake by
at least one of the players, or a gain of any kind in favour
of at least one of the players or organisers of the game
for which luck is an element, even incidental, during the
course of the game, for the determination of the winner or
the prize.”

Italy: No. The Italian gambling law does not provide a
definition of gambling. However, under Italy’s Criminal
Code article 721 this law defines gambling as: “games of
chance are games where players can obtain a profit and in
which a final gain or loss is entirely dependent on chance.”

Section 2(10) of the Gaming Act defines instruments of the
information society as “electronic processing equipment,
including digital compression, and storage of data, which
are entirely transmitted, conveyed and received by cable,
by radio, by optical means or by other electromagnetic
means.”

Although Italian gambling legislation has not established
an explicit general definition of online/remote gambling,
Article 2 (r) Decree 111/2011 which regulates the operation
of fixed odds betting on sports activities provides a
definition of telematic bet as:
“... r) telematics bet, the fixed odds bet place under
conditions “at a distance”, which is done through
telephone channel, fixed or mobile, internet or
interactive TV.”

Denmark: Yes. Section 5 of the Act on Gambling defines
the term “online gambling” as “gambling activities
between a player and a gambling provider through the
use of remote communication.”

United Kingdom: Yes. Section 4 of the Gambling Act
2005 defines remote gambling as “gambling in which
persons participate by the use of remote communication.”

Section 5 of the Gaming Act gives various categories
of gambling, with Section 5(i) defining “gambling” as:
“lottery, combination games and betting”.

Gambling covers the following (according to Section 3):

Combination games are defined in Section 5(iii) as:
“activities in which a participant has a chance of winning
a prize and where the probability of winning is based on
a combination of skill and chance”.

1.3 Which EU member states explicitly prohibit
the offer of remote games of chance?
Ireland and Lithuania.

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Betting is defined in Section 5(iv) as:
“activities in which a participant has a chance of winning
a prize and where bets are placed on the outcome of a
future event or occurrence of a particular event in the
future.”

Both are subject to general prohibition on any type of
unauthorised gambling, which is interpreted by authorities
as a prohibition on remote games, but there is no explicit
prohibition on remote gambling in the law. Lotteries in
these countries however, use the internet as a distribution
channel.

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France: Yes. Online gambling is defined as a game for
which the player’s actions in the game exclusively go
through an online communication service to the public.
However, it is not considered online gambling in respect
of games or bets registered through terminals used
exclusively or primarily for taking bets and made available
to players in public places or private places open to the
public (Article 10-1° of the Online Gambling Act 2010).

Remote Communication “means communication using—
(a)the internet,
(b)telephone,
(c)television,
(d)radio, or
(e)any other kind of electronic or other technology for
facilitating communication.” (Section 4(2))

2.2 Which types of games of chance may be
offered remotely?

The law defines gambling as games which “are considered
lotteries and prohibited as such: the sale of real estate
or any goods, by way of fate, or that were collected as
bonuses or other benefits due, even partially, to chance

6

Betting, which is defined as the “making or accepting
of a bet on the outcome of a race, competition or
other event or process; the likelihood of anything
occurring or not occurring; or whether anything is or is
not true”. (Defined in Section 9(1)(a-c))
Gaming, which is defined as playing of a game of
chance, which itself can include a skill element, for a
prize. (Defined in Section 6)
Participating in a lottery. (Defined in Section 14)

Belgium: Pursuant to the Gaming Act the following

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

games can be offered online (however, an equivalent
land-based authorisation is required): casino games, poker
and betting. In particular the Gaming Act provides for
online licences for:
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Casino games, including but not limited to roulette,
dice, black jack, baccarat, punto banco, chemin de fer,
poker and slot machine gaming (Category A+ licence).
A lower-stake category of licence is available for
gaming arcades (B+ licence). This permits lower
stakes forms of most A+ licensed games.
Betting shops can also expand online (F1+ licence).
Authorised betting on sports and horseracing includes
pari-mutuel and fixed-odds betting.

Denmark: According to the Act on Gambling licences for
the provision of online casino games, including poker and
slot machines, and online betting (except betting on horse
or dog racing, pigeon racing and the outcome of lotteries
or other randomly generated events) may be granted to
private operators.
The Act on Gambling transfers a monopoly licence for the
provision of online lotteries including bingo and online
betting on horse and dog racing to Danske Klassenlotteri
A/S and Danske Spil A/S respectively.

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Betting on horse racing and sports in the form of
mutual betting.
Betting exchanges.
Fixed odds betting.
Skill games (which are mostly poker tournaments).
Other forms of fixed odds betting other than sports
and horse racing betting. These are the category
casino games fall into. Under this category games
including online gaming machines and betting on
virtual events have been included.
Lottery games in all their forms have also been made
available online. In the case of lottery games, these
are distributed by licensees and also online agents.

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Danish Gambling Act, Part 2 (5):
“i) Lottery: Activities in which a participant has a chance
of winning a prize and where the probability of winning is
solely based on chance”.

In the UK, a lottery is defined as follows (in Section 14 of
the Gambling Act 2005):

ii) What types of games are considered to be lottery
games?
Generally, while there are many definitions of what
constitutes a “lottery” across Europe, these games refer to
number based chance draws.
However, definitions do vary and in some EU member
states, a lottery is given a wide definition which could
capture all types of gambling games. Moreover, in some
member states, gambling laws and lottery laws remain
distinct pieces of legislation. This is the case in the
following jurisdictions under focus:

Betting exchanges or intermediaries.
Betting (including virtual betting).
Casino games, including table games, poker and
online slot machines.
Bingo.
Lottery games.

8

»»

Belgium: According to the Gaming Act of 1999, it does
not apply to lottery games (according to Article 3bis).
Belgium has the National Lottery Act 2002.
France: Decree No 78-1067 of November 1978 created
the national lottery. The Ministry of Interior regulates
lotteries, while ARJEL regulates online gambling.
Italy: The operation of lottery games remains a state
monopoly, therefore, regulated under a separate
regime from other gambling activities.

Denmark: No, legislation in Denmark has not specified
the definition of these games, as the definitions provided
by the Danish Gambling Act take a wide approach to
define the types of games available in the market. In this
respect, it should be noted that the games mentioned
above fit into the description of the following categories:

United Kingdom: No, for bingo the Gambling Act
2005 does not contain a definition. In Section 353 on
interpretation, the Act simply states: “’bingo’ means any
version of that game, irrespective of by what name it is
described...”. For poker, the Gambling Act 2005 does not
contain a definition or reference to that game.

United Kingdom: All UK licensed gambling can be
offered online, including:
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i) Have Denmark and the UK specified what they
consider to be bingo or poker? Is a definition or
description available?

Regarding poker games, these are not specifically defined
by Danish legislation. However, the gambling authority
has regulated these games under the scope of the
definition of “combination games” and “online gambling”
listed above.

Italy: Italy has allowed the implementation of most
forms of online gambling, separated into the following
categories:

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»»
»»
»»

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“iii) Combination games: Activities in which a participant
has a chance of winning a prize and where the probability
of winning is based on a combination of skill and chance.”
“viii) Online gambling: Gambling activities between a
player and a gambling provider through the use of remote
communication.”

France: According to the Online Gambling Act 2010,
sports betting (pari-mutuel, fixed-odds, live betting), horse
race betting (pari-mutuel) and poker (Texas Hold’em and
Omaha Poker 4) may be offered remotely.

»»

Additional follow-up questions

According to the gambling authority, this definition is wide
enough to consider bingo games. However, as a result of
the interpretation of bingo games, bingo licences are not
available in Denmark for private operators.

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

»»
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Licence A for Class I casinos and Class A+ for the
online licence.
Licence B for Class II arcades and Class B+ for the
online licence.
Licence F1 for betting and F1+ for the online licence.

As of June 2014, there are seven Class A+ licences, 33
Class B+ and 16 F1+ licences.
However, the Gaming Act solely contains framework
legislation which needs to be implemented by Royal
Decrees. With regard to online gambling Belgium notified
three further Royal Decrees to the European Commission
on April 22, 2014. The standstill period for these three
Royal Decrees ended on July 23, 2014 . As a matter of
completeness we have inserted reference to these Royal
Decrees in this research as well. The Gaming Commission
is the regulatory authority issuing licences and supervising
the gambling market.

Two divergent meanings of “lottery” in Europe are the UK
and Finland for illustrative purposes.

“Lottery
(1) For the purposes of this Act an arrangement is a lottery,
irrespective of how it is described, if it satisfies one of the
descriptions of lottery in subsections (2) and (3).

Denmark: The Gambling Authority is the licensing and
supervisory authority. The Minister of Taxation is the
regulatory authority with regard to tax matters. The Act
on Gambling provides for an unlimited number of online
licences for online casino and betting. The Executive
Orders on the provision of betting and online casinos
contain further provisions on online casino and betting
offers.

(2) An arrangement is a simple lottery if—
a. persons are required to pay in order to participate in
the arrangement,
b. in the course of the arrangement one or more prizes
are allocated to one or more members of a class, and
c. the prizes are allocated by a process which relies
wholly on chance.
(3) An arrangement is a complex lottery if—
a. persons are required to pay in order to participate in
the arrangement,
b. in the course of the arrangement one or more prizes
are allocated to one or more members of a class,
c. the prizes are allocated by a series of processes, and
d. the first of those processes relies wholly on chance.”

The Gambling Authority published explanatory notes
to the Act on Gambling in addition to FAQs for gaming
operators and guidelines for the licence application forms
further explaining the respective licensing requirements
and technical standards (Spillemyndigheden’s technical
standards) concerning the specifications on the licensee’s
gambling system. As of July 2014 there were 28 online
casino licensees, five online casino restricted venue
licensees, 15 online betting licensees, and four online
betting restricted venue licensees.

In Finland, however, a “lottery” is defined as the following
in Section 2 of the Lotteries Act 2001 (1047/2001).
“For the purposes of this Act, a lottery means an activity
in which participants may win, in full or in part, a prize of
monetary value based on chance and in which there is a
charge for participation.”

The Act on Gambling provides for monopoly licences for
the provision of online lottery games and online horse and
dog racing for Danske Klassenlotteri A/S and Danske Spil
A/S respectively.

2.3 Overview of how the remote games of
chance market is regulated (monopoly or
licence, number of licences, who holds the
licence and what is the licensing/supervising
authority)?

France: The French National Assembly approved on April
6, 2010 a law introducing a “controlled opening of the
online gambling market” setting up a licensing regime for
online gambling operations in France. After its approval
by the assembly, the law was enacted at the end of April
2010.

Belgium: Amendments to the Gaming Act of 1999
providing for online gambling licences came into effect
on January 1, 2011. The Gaming Act provides that online
gambling licences can only be granted to operators
already holding an equivalent land-based licence. Online
licences are considered a “supplementary licence” to
authorised casinos, gaming arcades and betting shops.
Therefore the following online licences are available:

The main goal of the law is to channel illegal gambling
activities to legal activities with regard to objectives of
general interest; these include the protection of players
and minors, the fight against fraud and crime, the
prevention of conflicts of interest and the fight against
unlawful sites.

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

The law set up a local licensing regulatory framework for
online gambling for three different activities: horse race
betting, sports betting and “shared games which depend
on skills” (currently only poker games). The law also
created an online gambling regulatory agency known as
ARJEL (Autorité de Régulation des Jeux en Ligne).
Lotteries, virtual slot machines, “spread betting”, “betting
exchange”, betting on virtual competition and casino
games in which consumers play against the bank (roulette,
black jack, etc.) are excluded from the types of online
gambling that can be authorised.
However, Française des Jeux may offer online lottery and
bingo sales under the country’s lottery regulations and
had started doing so prior to the adoption of the online
gambling law.
ARJEL issues licences for renewable five-year periods, with
an unlimited number available to all operators who can
fulfil licensing criteria established by the regulator in its
book of specifications.
Operators are not required to have all their company
headquarters or their main servers in France but need to
have their “.fr” servers in France and install technology to
allow player data and all transactions involving French
customers to be audited. This information must be kept in
a “vault” connected in real time to ARJEL.
As of July 2014 there were 18 licensed operators.
Italy: Italy has established regulations for most gambling
services. Apart from lottery games most gambling
activities are operated under licence agreements by
private operators. Online gambling licences in Italy are
awarded by the Italian gambling authority AAMS which is
a department within the Monopoly and Customs Agency
(ADM).
AAMS overseas the operation of all gambling activities
in the country apart from land-based casinos, which are
regulated and controlled by local authorities.
Online gambling licences in Italy are made available to
operators within specific application windows established
by AAMS, with licences being granted for nine years. In the
case of lottery games, these services are also operated
by private operators but under concession contracts
which are awarded for specific lottery games. Concession
contracts for the operation of lottery games include the
operation of land-based and online lottery games. These
contracts are awarded through tender processes which
are only available once the current contract has expired.
Concession contracts for the operation of lottery games
are awarded for a maximum period of nine years and it
corresponds to the Italian gambling authority AAMS to
carry out the tender process and supervise the compliance
and performance of the concessionaries.

August 2014

As of June 2014 there were 106 licensees.

accepting applications from July 25, 2014.

United Kingdom: The Gambling Act 2005 is the
primary piece of UK gambling legislation and regulates
gambling in the UK, including bingo, lotteries, casinos,
gaming machines and remote gambling. The Gambling
Act provides for three forms of licences: (i) operating
licences, (ii) personal licences and (iii) premises licences.
An operating licence entitles a person or entity to provide
facilities for the provision of gambling in the UK. Different
forms of operating licences are required for different forms
of gambling. Persons responsible for key management
functions within an entity that is licensed to operate
gambling require a personal licence. A premises licence
is required in order for a licensed operator to provide
gambling at a land-based gambling establishment. In the
online sector, it is necessary for an operator to hold an
operating licence.

The UK gambling regulator, the Gambling Commission, is
the regulatory and supervisory authority. In May 2014 the
Gambling Commission published a consolidated version
of Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice (LCCP) which
entered into force on August 4, 2014.

The Gambling Act provided for an open online regime,
under which UK-licensed operators, operators from the
European Economic Area (EEA), including Gibraltar and
white-listed countries (Alderney, Antigua and Barbuda,
Isle of Man and Tasmania), who did not need a UK licence,
could advertise online gambling in the UK (and therefore
offer services into the UK market). This system has been
changed by the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising)
Act which received Royal Assent in May 2014. The Act
still requires a Statutory Instrument to have the main
provisions of the Act come into force. The required
statutory instrument was tabled in parliament on June
25, 2014. The Statutory Instrument outlines transitional
provisions, with the instrument’s explanatory note
stating that the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising)
Act will be in force on October 1, 2014. Therefore from
October 1, 2014, operators will require a UK licence to
transact with customers based in Great Britain. Taxation
applicable from December 2014, through the Finance
Bill which received Royal Assent on July 17, 2014, will
achieve this, which among other measures, gives HMRC
Commissioners powers to issue breach notices, if there
are contraventions of taxation obligations - the HMRC
Commissioners are empowered to direct the Gambling
Commission to suspend a remote operating licence if
breaches are not remedied. Moreover, if a suspension
occurs, Commissioners can further direct the Gambling
Commission to revoke a remote operating licence if the
breach has not been remedied within a six month period
after suspension.

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Licensees will have to comply with the Gambling Act as
amended by the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act,
the LCCP and the technical standards.
Since the UK has been an open market, exact number
of operators on its market is unknown, however it is
estimated that applications for UK online gambling
licences will easily surpass 100.
GamblingCompliance Commentary
On May 28, 2014, the latest version of LCCP (only
the provisions related to: gambling software; peer
to peer gaming; other networks; segregation of
funds; display of licensed status - remote operators;
social responsibility code; identification of individual
customers – remote; ordinary code provision; antimoney laundering – casino; ordinary code provision;
and anti-money laundering – other than casino)
was notified to the European Commission, with its
standstill period due to end on August 29, 2014.

The Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act provides
for point of consumption licensing meaning that all
operators transacting with UK players are required to
hold a UK licence. It also introduced a point (or place)
of consumption taxation, which means that all online
gambling by UK players will be subject to UK taxation.
According to the Statutory Instrument in parliament,
operators have until September 16, 2014 to apply for
transitional licences, with the Gambling Commission

10

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Category 3. Permitted payment methods
3.1. Which payment instruments/methods
are allowed with regard to remote games of
chance?
Belgium: Section 58 of the Gaming Act specifies that
credit cards are prohibited for online gambling. In
addition, the Royal Decree notified by Belgium to the
European Commission on April 22, 2014 states that
concerning the payment platform only Payment Card
Industry Data Security Standard certified bodies may be
used. Also, the Gaming Commission prohibits licence
holders from using any payment method considered
fraudulent by an official authority. Further, the Gaming
Commission shall be kept informed at all times of the
payment methods used by players and those used by the
licence holder to pay players. Payments shall always be
associated with an approved website. The licence holder
shall inform the Gaming Commission of such payments
each month.
Denmark: Section 8 of the Executive Order on the
provision of betting and Section 9 of the Executive Order
on online casinos state that a licence holder may only
receive payments into a gambling account from payment
service providers that provide such services legally in
Denmark pursuant to the Danish Payment Services Act.
Cash deposits cannot be accepted. Also the licensee’s
gambling system shall not allow transfers of funds, etc.
between gambling accounts.
France: According to Article 17 of the Online Gambling
Law 2010, a player may only provision his account through
payment instruments made available by a provider of
payment services established in a member state of the EU
or EEA, which has concluded an agreement with France
containing an administrative assistance clause in the fight
against fraud and tax evasion. Only payment instruments
mentioned in Chapter III of Title III of Book I of the
Monetary and Financial Code can be used. These concern
banking payments services exclusively.
The player must use one of these payment instruments to
provision funds into their account:
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Payment cards
Bank transfers
Payments made via an intermediate payment provider
(Paypal type of eWallet) which must be authorised in a
member state of the EU or the EEA
Electronic money provided it was created by a
provider authorised in a member state of the EU or the
EEA.

Italy: According to Section 2.2.10 of the Certification
Guidance Version 1.1 (a current updated version is in draft

form) an online gambling system must not allow the use
of payment methods which do not comply with current
Italian legislation. Therefore, cash, automatic recharge
prepaid cards or anonymous vouchers are not permitted.
However, the use of pre-paid cards is only permitted
for the purpose of crediting a player’s account provided
that the identity of the player has already been verified.
No express provisions contained in the online gambling
legislation.
In addition, the operator must ensure and notify to the
gambling authority the types of payment methods to be
made available to players.
United Kingdom: Under the new Licence Conditions and
Codes of Practice (LCCP, May 2014) in force from August 4,
2014 - Licence condition 5.1.2 (‘Payment services’) applies
to payments. The code states:
“Licensees should only accept payment from customers
using their gambling facilities in Great Britain by a method
which involves the provision of payment services as
defined in Schedule 1 Part 1 of the Payment Services
Regulations 2009 (SI 2009 No 209) if the provider of
those services is a ‘payment service provider’ within
the definition of that term in regulation 2 of those
Regulations.”
In commentary published by the Gambling Commission,
the commission expects licensees to satisfy themselves
that the payment providers they use are “legal and
appropriate”. According to the Gambling Commission
operators should ensure that they carry out due diligence
for the payment services which they use. The operators
must be satisfied that any payment service they would like
to use is either:
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Authorised or registered by the FCA
Exempt from the Regulations
Authorised or registered with a regulator in another
EEA jurisdiction.

If the above points do not apply, the operator should carry
out additional due diligence in order to satisfy themselves
that the payment service is appropriate.
LCCP provision 3.7.1 (a social responsibility code) which
applies to all remote licences, except gaming machine
technical, gambling software, provides that licensees who
decide to accept credit cards must “(i) accept payment
by credit card for gambling only where that payment is
made to a customer account and (ii) make available for
gambling, funds deposited via credit card only after the
card issuer has approved the transaction.”

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

and terrorist financing risks, member states and
obliged entities shall take into account at least the
factors of potentially higher-risk situations set out
in Annex III.” In Annex III to the draft directive, at (1)
((b) “(b) products or transactions that might favour
anonymity” are listed as one type of factor which
evidences such a potentially higher risk.

3.2. In particular, are “anonymous” payment
methods allowed (for example pre-paid debit
cards)?
Belgium: No express provisions are contained in the
Gaming Act or the Royal Decrees currently in force. The
Royal Decree notified by Belgium to the EU Commission
on April 22, 2014 solely states that payment shall always
be associated with an approved website.

GamblingCompliance Commentary 2: A non-EU
jurisdiction’s consideration of this issue is the US
state of New Jersey. New Jersey’s regulations provide
the gambling regulator with a wide discretion to
approve payment deposit methods, including card
and pre-paid cards (with pre-paid cards required to
be issued to an individual and be non-transferable,
most likely for licensees to discharge know-yourcustomer obligations) and most importantly “any
other means approved by the Division” (Chapter
690 ‘Internet and Mobile Gaming’ of the merged
regulation).

Denmark: No express provisions are contained in the
online gambling legislation. However, the Executive
Orders on the provision of betting and online casinos
explicitly prohibit cash deposits into gambling accounts.
France: Please refer to the previous answer. Only a limited
number of payment methods are authorised.
Italy: No. The Certification Guidance Version 1.1 for the
operation of remote gambling services has established
that payments must be recorded regardless of the
payment system used by the player, being either a credit
card or an alternative method of payment. According
to section 2.2.10 of the Certification Guidance Version 1.1
the gambling system must not allow the use of payment
methods which do not comply with current legislation
such as cash, automatic recharge pre-paid cards or
vouchers which do not involve the player. The use of prepaid cards is only permitted for the purpose for crediting
a player’s account provided that the identity of the player
has already been verified.
United Kingdom: The UK’s gambling legislation,
regulation and LCCP does not provide express provisions
in relation to “anonymous” payment methods. Schedule 1
of the Payment Services Regulations 2009, lists a number
of activities which constitute payments services. Among
these are “payment transactions executed through a
payment card of similar device.”
GamblingCompliance Commentary 1:
The Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive puts a
renewed focus on tracing electronic transactions.
The explanatory memorandum in the draft
directive notes that the “potential for misuse of
new technologies to conceal transactions and
hide identity makes it important for member
states to be aware of technological developments
and simulate the use of electronic identification,
electronic signature and trust services for electronic
transactions, in line with commission’s proposal for
a regulation on electronic identification and trust
services for electronic transactions in the internal
market.”
Moreover, in Article 16(3) of the draft directive, it
states: “When assessing the money laundering

3.3. Is a player allowed to make use of several
kinds of payment instruments/methods?
Belgium: Not specified by the Gaming Act or the Royal
Decrees. However, a Belgium licensee lists payment
solutions from providers such as: Bancontact Mister Cash,
Maestro, Neteller, Ukash, Skrill, Paysafecard.
Denmark: Yes. The player is allowed to make use of
several kinds of payment instruments/methods as
long as the game provider complies with the general
rules regarding deposits and withdrawals. All payment
instruments/methods have to be validated by the Danish
Financial Supervisory Authority.
A Danish licensee lists payment solutions from providers
such as: MasterCard, Skrill, Neteller, Visa, Paysafecard,
Bank Transfer, Earth Port.
France: No express provision in the Online Gambling Act
or secondary legislation. However, French licensees list
payment solutions from providers such as: MasterCard,
Skrill, Neteller, Visa, PayPal, Ukash.
Italy: No express provisions contained in the online
gambling legislation. However, the wording of the
Certification Guidance Version 1.1 indicates that players
can place deposits using different payment instruments
provided that the identity of the player has been verified.
However, an Italian licensee lists payment solutions from
providers such as: Visa, MasterCard, Postepay, Paypal,
Skrill, Ukash, Paysafecard.
United Kingdom: No express provisions contained in
the online gambling legislation. However, a UK licensee
lists payment solutions from providers such as: Visa,

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

MasterCard, Neteller, Paypal, Skrill, Ukash, Paysafecard,
Entropay, Fastbank Transfer, Cheque. Moreover, Schedule
1 of the Payment Services Regulations 2009, lists activities
which constitute payments services - these include: direct
debits, payment transactions executed through a payment
card of similar device, credit transfers, issuing payment
instruments, money remittance and payments executed
by an intermediary which is a telecommunication, digital
or IT devcies. The Schedule activities such as the following
which do not constitute payment services: paper cheques,
bankers’ drafts, paper-based vouchers, paper postal
orders, and transactions executed wholly in cash without
any intermediary, among others.

3.4. Does the bank account from which the
player pays into his gaming account and the
bank account to which the licensee pays out
possible winnings have to be identical?
Belgium: Not specified by the Gaming Act or the Royal
Decrees.
Denmark: No. The Danish Gambling Authority does not
regulate the bank accounts from which the player pays
into his/her gaming account and to which the game
provider pays out winnings, as long as the game provider
makes sure that the protective measures against money
laundering are observed.
France: No. However, according to Article 17 of the Online
Gambling Act 2010, the winnings of the player can only
be transferred to a single payment account opened by
the player with a payment service provider established
in a member state of the EU or EEA which has concluded
an agreement with France containing an administrative
assistance clause in the fight against fraud and tax
evasion. The player communicates to the operator the
details of this payment account at the opening of their
player account. The payment of their winnings can only be
transferred on this account.
Italy: No express provisions contained in the online
gambling legislation.
United Kingdom: No express provisions contained in
legislation or codes of practice.

3.5. Is there a difference between allowed
payment instruments for deposits and
withdrawals?
Belgium: Not specified by the Gaming Act or the Royal
Decrees.
Denmark: See above answer 3.4.
France: No express provision in the Online Gambling Act
or secondary legislation.

August 2014

Italy: No express provisions contained in the online
gambling legislation.
United Kingdom: No express provisions contained in
legislation or codes of practice. A current licensee states
in its terms and conditions that for withdrawals: “Where
possible, all withdrawals will be processed to the payment
account from which the deposits were made. Withdrawal
payments can only be made in the name of and to the
registered account holder”. In further FAQs on its website,
this licensee states: “If you fund your account using
multiple payment methods, we are required to process
any withdrawal request you make proportionally between
the methods you have used to deposit with. When you
request a withdrawal it will be reviewed and we will
contact you via email within 24 hours to confirm where the
funds will be sent.”
In June 2014 the Gambling Commission released a public
statement on the “Shortcomings in anti-money laundering
and social responsibility controls” at one of its licensees.
Under a heading “Key Learning” the Commission notes
that operators should “Ensuring effective policies and
procedures are in place to identify money laundering and
social responsibility triggers” stating:
“...the operator’s policies did not take full account of
indicators of suspicious behaviour or risk triggers arising
from the individual’s activity. For example, it is reasonable
to expect operators to maintain policies that factor in the
use of multiple debit/credit cards and multiple third party
online e-money accounts to deposit to and withdraw from
gambling accounts in assessing potentially suspicious or
problematic behaviour.”

3.6. Are licensees required to check a player’s
identity before paying out possible winnings?
Belgium: Yes. The Royal Decree notified by Belgium
to the EU Commission on April 22, 2014 specifies that
any player subscribing to an approved website shall be
registered and identified through the web services and
then attributed a player code by the Gaming Commission.
Only players holding such player code are authorised to
take part in online gambling.
Denmark: Yes. Section 3 of the Executive Orders on the
provision of betting and online casinos provides that the
customer’s verification procedure must take place when
the licensee establishes the customer relationship and
no later than when the first payment is made. During the
customer’s registration and identity check the licensee has
to set up a temporary account. No payments can be made
from a temporary account.
To verify a customer, licensees are required to use the
country’s NemId system. NemId is a second generation
digital signature, which is used across various services,

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

from public websites (such as tax authorities), banks and
other services, including online gambling. The system
consists of a user ID, password and a card containing
one-time access codes. According to the “Technical
requirements on gambling operators for obtaining a
licence to provide online gambling services in Denmark”
Version 1.09:
“When a new player wants to open an account on the
Licence Holder’s website, the Licence Holder must
check, before the account opening has been completed,
the player’s identity via NemId, the player’s age and
whether the player is registered on the Problem
Gambling Register. If the player cannot log in via NemId,
the player is younger than 18 years old or the player is
registered on the Problem Gambling Register, a player
cannot open an account.”
France: Yes. The customer is not able to collect their
winnings without showing proof of identity. According to
Article 17 of the Online Gambling Act 2010, an operator
can offer the player on a temporary basis, to take part
in gambling services, before completing all the checks
related to a player’s identity verification. However, these
checks determine the validation of the player account and
the return of their possible winnings.
The customers send a proof of identity by post or email
to the operator. The operator is then in charge of sending
the customer a letter by post with a code which they can
use to open their account. As the operator must send by
mail the activation code, it is necessary to have human
intervention in the identification process.
Articles 2 to 5 of decree N°2010-518 of May 19, 2010 define
all players’ identity checks procedures.
Italy: Yes. In order to participate in online gambling
activities one of the main requirements established by
the regulation is that players are required to open a
player account. The player’s personal identity details for
this gambling account must be verified by the gambling
operator, within 30 days from the moment the account
is opened. While deposits are permitted, withdrawals
are not permitted until verification has been completed
according to Certification Guidance Version 1.1.
United Kingdom: Yes. The UK stipulates requirements on
age verification (as not permitting minors to gamble is one
of the goals of regulation) as well as player identification.
The LCCP social responsibility code provision 3.2.11
(‘Access to gambling by children and young persons’) (2)(f)
states that: “if age verification has not been satisfactorily
completed within 72 hours of the customer applying to
register to gamble and depositing money:
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The account will be frozen.
No further gambling will be permitted until age
verification has been successfully completed.

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If on completion of age verification the customer is
shown to be underage, the operator must return to
the customer any money paid in respect of the use of
the gambling facilities, but no winnings shall be paid.”

3.7. Are licensees allowed to grant loans to
players?
Belgium: No. Section 58 of the Gaming Act clarifies that
the offering of credits to players is prohibited.
Denmark: No. According to Section 35 of the Act on
Gambling a licence holder shall not extend credit to the
player for participation in gambling activities.
Italy: No. The Certification Guidance Version 1.1 Section
2.2.10 has established that the gaming system must
prevent the gambling operator from providing credit to
player in any form.
United Kingdom: Yes (subject to conditions.). According
to LCCP social responsibility code provision 3.7.1.
“Licensees who choose to accept credit cards must:
a. accept payment by credit card for gambling only where
that payment is made to a customer account
b. make available for gambling, funds deposited via
credit card only after the card issuer has approved the
transaction.”
Moreover, ordinary code provision 3.7.2 licensees who
choose to offer credit to players must ensure that the
following steps are taken:
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Have measures for inspecting and recording
applications for credit from such players, for fixing and
for increase of credit limits.
Clarify these measures to players; establish for each
player a maximum credit limit and to not allow them
to go beyond that limit without other application.
Administer a 24-hour delay between obtaining a
demand for an increase in a credit limit and permitting
in those cases where the limit goes beyond that which
the operator had already put in place.
There should not be a required minimum spend during
a set time period.
All reasonable steps must be taken in order to ensure
that credit offers are not sent to any vulnerable
individuals – which also include the individuals who
have decided to self-exclude from gambling.
Information regarding credit offers must make sure
that it also contains a risk of warning in the event of
default.

GamblingCompliance Commentary: Anti-money
laundering compliance and permitted payment services
under applicable payments regulations come into
consideration with respect to the permitted use of
payment types and payment services in many of the

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Category 4. Policies towards free play and social
gaming in which money cannot be cashed out

jurisdictions researched. This is evident through some
of the answers in this section of the research, where
money laundering rules are required to be observed by
game providers, which would then inform and frame
the permitted use or otherwise of a particular payment
method or process.

4.1 Are free games of chance (playing for points
instead of money, social gaming) allowed?

A number of the jurisdictions researched do link the
provision of permitted payments with applicable payment
services regulations and providers.

Belgium: Yes. Technically, if the type of game conforms
with the definition of gambling in the Gaming Act 1999, it
would require a licence and therefore be permitted. The
definition of games of chance in Section 2(1) of the Gaming
Act defines gambling widely and could capture free games
(simply requiring a stake of any kind and the resultant loss
or gain by the player based on an element of chance):
“Any game for which a stake of any kind is placed,
resulting in either the loss of the stake by at least one of
the players, or a gain of any kind in favour of at least one
of the players or organisers of the game for which luck
is an element, even incidental, during the course of the
game, for the determination of the winner or the prize.”

What is uniform across the jurisdictions, is the required
verification of player’s prior to the payment of winnings
- however, the method of verification and applicable
time periods do differ - from at the time of registration
in Denmark, within 72 hours in the UK, to one month in
Italy; and with France requiring a paper/postal system of
verification which would necessarily make the process
more time consuming than in Denmark or the UK for
instance.

On social games which could be a type of free game
of chance, at the end of 2012, the Gaming Commission
submitted to the Ministry of Justice a Royal Decree which
would enable the authority to examine social games
more closely. According to the Gaming Commission, the
Royal Decree defines social games as online games with
the same characteristics as games of chance that may be
operated by Belgian licence holders and that comply with
the definition of a game of chance in Belgium, but where
no gain of any kind is paid out to the person who laid a
stake. Social gaming would be able to be operated in
Belgium without a licence from the Gaming Commission,
except if the social game has been indicated as a licensed
game of chance. According to the Royal Decree, social
games would only be operated without a licence if a
person can spend a maximum of €100 per month.
GamblingCompliance understands that the Gaming
Commission will seek to publish on its website a list
of social games that cannot be operated without a
Belgian licence. Of note, in December 2012, the Gaming
Commission started to add social gaming companies, to
its blacklist of illegal online gambling websites.
As of June 2014, the Royal Decree has not been made
available to the public and is still being examined by the
Ministry of Justice. At a two-day conference organised
in Brussels at the end of October 2013, the Gaming
Commission pushed the Belgian government to adopt
the draft Royal Decree to extend its powers over social
games.
Denmark: No. Social gaming is not expressly regulated
in Denmark, however, free games are considered in
technical standards. Pursuant to the Act on Gambling a
licence to provide gambling in Denmark is required when:

16

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Players have to pay a stake (money or other items of
an economic value);
The participant has a chance of winning (all kinds of
winnings of an economic value) through the payment
of a stake; and
The games have an element of chance.

During GamblingCompliance research in 2013 and in
answer to the question of “Do you think social gaming
falls within your country’s existing legal definition of
gambling?”, the Gambling Authority replied: “The Danish
gambling act includes ‘social gaming’, should this fall
under the term ‘gambling’ or be a part of a marketing
strategy regarding gambling activities. [...] In the opinion
of the Danish Gambling Authority, ‘social gaming’ may
in certain cases be deemed marketing of gambling.” The
Gambling Authority added that “social gaming may be
governed by Danish legislation on consumer protection.
The DGA seeks close cooperation with the relevant Danish
authorities on the area of consumer protection, including
the Danish Consumer Ombudsman.”
The Spillemyndigheden’s technical standards specify
that games without stakes (free games, games for fun,
etc.) shall present the chance of winning in a correct and
balanced way so as not to create an impression that the
chance of winning is larger than it actually is in games with
real stakes.
Section 3(2) of the Act on Gambling clarifies that payment
in a guessing competition at a radio or TV show, where
the guessing competition does not constitute the main
element, is not regarded as payment of a stake as long
as the payment is made via an information and content
service with embedded billing or mobile payment
service that does not exceed an extra billing of DKK5 per
telephone number per day.
France: No. Social gaming is not expressly regulated
in France, but could fall under the current definition of
gambling depending on interpretation of the law. In March
2014, a consumer law modified the definition of gambling.
The changes expanded France’s definition of prohibited
lotteries to include all games that “even partially” rely
on chance. The law defines gambling as followed: “Are
considered lotteries and prohibited as such: the sale of
real estate or any goods, by way of fate, or that were
collected as bonuses or other benefits due, even partially,
to chance and, in general, all operations available to
the public, under any name whatsoever, that give rise to
the hope of a gain that would be even partially due to
chance and for which a financial sacrifice is required from
the participants by the operator” (Article 2 of the Online

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

Gambling Act, modified by article 148 of Law n°2014-344
of March 17, 2014). The drafting of the law is vague with the
nature of the financial contribution and the nature of the
gain not being specified. It is therefore uncertain whether
the new definition could include social games for instance.
Italy: Yes. According to the Certification Guidance Version
1.1, while it does not explicitly establish regulations for the
operation of free games of chance, the guidance does
establish the possibility for operators to offer some free
games or test games to players.
United Kingdom: Yes. While, the Gambling Act 2005
does not provide for any express provisions in relation
to free games of chance, play-for-fun games are given
consideration in the UK’s Remote Technical Standards.
The Gambling Commission has also highlighted the
potential risks associated with social gaming. It has
commissioned a report into social gaming: “Exploring
Social Gambling: Scoping, Classification and Evidence
Review”. Some of the report’s findings included:
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“Stricter age verification measures should be
adopted where children are permitted to engage in
gambling-related content, even where real money
is not involved, if indeed real money gambling is
being advertised using this medium. Children and
adolescents should not be exposed to inappropriate
gambling-related marketing material of any
description but particularly some of what we would
regard as harder forms of advertising (e.g. big wins
and deposit bonuses);
Some games and features should be closely
monitored and comprehensively researched.
These relate to issues of increased accessibility
through social media and removal of cost of entry.
Social influence, particularly among children
and adolescents should also receive special
consideration.”

The Gambling Commission has published a social gaming
update (July 18, 2013), in which the commission’s next
step was stated to carry on its cooperation with the social
gaming industry, other regulators and experts in order
to develop a “data framework” to benefit the industry in
evaluating their player data.
In 2013, the Office of Fair Trading (which was closed on
April 1, 2014 with much of its responsibilities transferred
to the Competition and Market Authority (CMA)) released
eight proposed principles relating to the compliance
of social gaming companies with existing rules. For
companies who are not compliant, enforcement actions
would be taken against them. The eight principles are:
1. Information about the costs associated with a game
should be provided clearly, accurately and prominently
up-front, before the consumer begins to play, download
or sign up to it or agrees to make a purchase.

August 2014

2. All material information about a game should be
provided clearly, accurately and prominently up-front,
before the consumer begins to play, download or sign up
to it or agrees to make a purchase. “Material information”
includes information about the main characteristics of the
games and other information necessary for the average
consumer to take an informed decision to play, download
or sign up to the game or to make a purchase.
3. Information about the game business should be
provided clearly, accurately and prominently up-front,
before the consumer begins to play, download or sign
up to the game or agrees to make a purchase. It should
be clear to the consumer whom he/she ought to contact
in case of queries, complaints or to seek redress. The
trader should be capable of being contacted rapidly and
communicated with in a direct and effective manner. When
placed under an obligation to pay, the consumer should
be able to retain that information in a durable medium.
4. The commercial intent of any in-game promotion
of paid-for content, or promotion of any other product
or service, should be clear and distinguishable from
gameplay. The younger he/she is, the more difficult it is
likely to be for a consumer to identify the commercial
intent of a commercial practice in certain contexts, and the
language, design and structure of the game should take
that into account.
5. A game should not mislead consumers by giving the
false impression that payments are required or are an
integral part of the way the game is played if that is not
the case.
6. Games should not include practices that are aggressive,
or which otherwise have the potential to exploit a child’s
inherent inexperience, vulnerability or credulity or to place
undue influence or pressure on a child to make a purchase.
The younger a child is, the greater the likely impact those
practices will have, and the language, presentation, design
and structure of the game should take account of that.
7. A game should not include direct exhortations to
children to make a purchase or persuade others to make
purchases for them.
8. Payments should not be taken from the payment
account holder unless authorised. A payment made in a
game is not authorised unless express, informed consent
for that payment has been given by the payment account
holder. The scope of the agreement and the amount to
be debited should be made clear. Consent should not
be assumed, for example through the use of opt-out
provisions, and the payment account holder should
positively indicate his/her express, informed consent.
9. Traders must ensure that, at the point of each purchase,
the consumer explicitly acknowledges his/her obligation
to pay.

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

In March 2014, the UK Parliament’s Culture, Media and
Sport Committee published a report into online safety for
young people. The report highlights the risks and threats
of the online world despite having improvements from
a technological point of view and the public being more
aware of dangers. However, the government has yet to
issue a response.

Gaming (including bingo), lotteries, and betting on virtual
events

Additional follow-up questions

RTS requirement 6A:
Play-for-fun games must implement the same game rules
as the corresponding play-for-money games. Operators
must take all reasonable steps to ensure that play-forfun games accurately represent the likelihood of winning
and prize distribution in the play-for-money game. For
the purpose of this requirement playing a game includes
participating in a lottery and/or betting on a virtual event.

i) In Denmark, what other items beside money are
considered to be of economic value? In Italy, what games
are allowed to be offered as “free games” and under
which conditions?
Denmark: “Economic value” means any kind of stake
related to the game. For example, if the player has to
pay a membership fee to be able to play, that will be
considered as a stake of economic value - even if the fee
only has a negligible value. In principle a stake can be a
physical thing.
Italy: Italy’s certification guidance state that free games
can be offered in “demonstration mode”; however, no
further guidance is provided.

4.2 If yes, are there any provisions on free
games of chance contained in national
legislation (age restrictions, etc)?
Belgium: Please refer to the answer above.
Denmark: According to the Gambling Authority the
Danish gambling legislation applies to social gaming
provided that the social games fall within the scope of
application of the definition of gambling contained in
the Act on Gambling. The Gambling Authority is of the
view that “social gaming may be governed by Danish
legislation on consumer protection.”
The Spillemyndigheden’s technical standards specify
that games without stakes (free games, games for fun,
etc.) shall present the chance of winning in a correct and
balanced way so as not to create an impression that the
chance of winning is bigger than it actually is in games
with stakes.
France: No express provisions contained in the Online
Gambling Act.
Italy: No express provisions contained in the online
gambling legislation.

RTS aim 6:
To minimise the risk that customers are misled about the
likelihood of winning due to the behaviour of play-for-fun
games.

RTS implementation guidance 6A:
a. The play-for-free game should use the same RNG as
the corresponding play-for-money games, another RNG
that fulfils the requirements set out in RTS requirement
7A, or a publicly available RNG, (such as those available as
standard within operating systems) that may reasonably
be expected to produce no systematic bias.
b. Where 6a is not reasonably possible, it should be
demonstrated that the method of producing outcomes
does not introduce a systematic bias, for example:
i. if tables of random numbers are used, they should be
sufficiently long to support a large number of games
without repeating
ii. the method should represent game probabilities
accurately, ie it should not produce a higher than
expected proportion of winning outcomes.
c. The prize distribution should accurately represent the
play-for-money game. For example, where play-for-fun
games use virtual cash, the virtual cash payouts should be
the same as the corresponding play-for-money game, and
where tokens are used, the allocation of tokens as prizes
should be proportionate to the stakes and prizes in the
play-for-money game.
Free games are also mentioned in RTS 14 of the Remote
Technical Standards which refers to responsible product
design and applies to all gambling. It is a requirement that
gambling products do not actively encourage customers
to chase their losses, gamble more than they should or
continuing to gamble despite stating that they would like
to stop. By not actively encouraging customers means
among other things, that “customers who have chosen to
exit a game should not be encouraged to continue playing
by, for example, being offered a free game.”

United Kingdom: In addition to the answer above, the
Remote Technical Standards includes the following
standard on play-for-fun games.
RTS 6: Result determination for play-for-fun games

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Category 5. Regulations around the use of games on
multi-platform devices

Category 6. Regulations around live betting and inplay betting

5.1. Does national legislation allow a player to
log into his gaming account on several devices
at the same time?

5.2. Are players allowed to have more than one
account with the same licensee?

6.1 Does national legislation contain explicit
provisions on live betting and in-play betting?

Belgium: No express provisions contained in the Gaming
Act or the Royal Decrees. One of the Royal Decrees
notified by Belgium to the European Commission on April
22, 2014 specifies that a licence holder’s web services
shall not prevent a player from simultaneously registering
with authorised websites.

Belgium: No but permitted. Currently there is no explicit
guidance. The Gaming Act defines betting as “game of
chance in which each player bets an amount that produces
a gain or loss that is not dependent on an act performed
by the player, but the verification of an uncertain fact that
occurs without the intervention of players”. Furthermore
the Gaming Act contains definitions of pari-mutuel and
fixed odds betting.

Belgium: No express provisions contained in the Gaming
Act or the Royal Decrees. However, one of the Royal
Decrees notified by Belgium to the European Commission
on April 22, 2014 states that a player may not play
more than three different games from one holder of a
supplementary licence at a time.
Denmark: No express provisions contained in the online
gambling legislation.
Pursuant to the Executive Orders on the provision of
betting and online casinos the licensee is only required
to check whether the player is properly identified when
logging into the gambling account (either with a digital
signature or any other appropriate means).
The Spillemyndigheden’s technical standards also
determine that the gambling system shall ensure that
a customer cannot start a new game until the ongoing
game is completed and all logs and balances have been
updated. However, this does not prevent a customer from
playing several different games at the same time.
In addition the gambling system shall include steps to
prevent the customers from playing against themselves
and the gambling system shall have methods for
discovering whether the same equipment is being used by
one or more participants in the peer-to-peer system at the
same time.
France: No express provisions contained in the Online
Gambling Act or secondary legislation.

Denmark: Yes. One player may have several gambling
accounts with one licensee.
France: No express provisions contained in the Online
Gambling Act or secondary legislation. However,
according to ARJEL’s professional FAQ (page 79), when a
licensee has 2 different licences to offer 2 types of games
(for instant sports betting and poker), it is possible for
a player to open only one player account for all games
offered by this licensee.
Italy: No. According to Section 2.2.6 of the Certification
Guidance Version 1.1, players are only allowed to have one
gaming account per operator.
United Kingdom: Yes. Social responsibility code provision
3.9.1 of LCCP which is applicable to all remote gambling
licences states that licensees must have and put into effect
policies and procedures designed to identify separate
accounts which are held by the same individual. If in the
case that licensees allow customers to hold more than
one account with them, the licensee must have and put
into effect procedures which enable them to relate each
of a customer’s accounts to each of the others and ensure
that:
»»

Italy: No express provisions contained in the online
gambling legislation.
United Kingdom: No express provisions contained in the
main gambling legislation or technical standards.

»»

Additional follow-up questions
i) Is there an explanation why the Belgians allow a
maximum of three games to be played simultaneously?

»»

Belgium: No, there are no explanatory notes explaining
why this requirement was settled upon.

»»

20

“If a customer opts to self-exclude they are effectively
excluded from all gambling with the licensee unless
they make it clear that their request relates only to
some forms of gambling or gambling using only some
of the accounts they hold with the licensee
All of a customer’s accounts are monitored and
decisions that trigger customer interaction are based
on the observed behaviour and transactions across all
the accounts
Where credit is offered or allowed the maximum
credit limit is applied on an aggregate basis across all
accounts
Individual financial limits can be implemented across
all of a customer’s accounts.

Following the definitions contained in the Gaming Act,
live betting could fall within the definition of betting.
GamblingCompliance surveyed the betting options on
Belgian licensed websites, and live betting is an option, for
instance, on Ladbrokes.be.
In addition, Section 5 of the Royal Decree notified by
Belgium to the European Commission on April 22,
2014 states that in the absence of any provisions to the
contrary, a licence holder may offer live games that are
offered by holders of a Class A and B licences.
Denmark: No but permitted. Section 5 of the Act
on Gambling defines betting as “activities in which a
participant has a chance of winning a prize and where
bets are placed on the outcome of a future event or the
occurrence of a particular event in the future”. According
to the explanatory notes of the Act on Gambling the
betting licences also cover live betting.
Further detail: Section 11(3) of the Act lists what may not
be permitted with a betting licence. Anything not explicitly
listed in 11(3) and in the executive orders on online betting
(Section 23) is allowed. In-play and live betting is not
listed. The explanatory notes to the Act on Gaming (4.3.4.
Betting) specify that in the Act, “betting” means activities
in which a participant may have the chance of winning a
prize and where bets are placed on: the result of a race,
a sporting event or another event or; the occurrence of
a particular event. The definition of betting therefore
includes betting on events or occurrences which are not
necessarily planned and will not necessarily occur.

Italy: No but permitted. Live betting and in-play betting
are allowed (they currently account for more than 20
percent of the total betting activity, and growing).
United Kingdom: No but permitted. The Gambling Act
does not contain an explicit provision on live betting and
in-play betting. However, Article 9 of the Gambling Act
2005 provides a general definition of betting. Particular
focus should be given to section (2) of Article 9 of the act,
which would cover live and in-play betting on both the
final outcome (who wins) of an event and contingency
(such as next goal scorer) in an event:
1) In this Act “betting” means making or accepting a bet
on—
(a)the outcome of a race, competition or other event or
process,
(b)the likelihood of anything occurring or not occurring,
or
(c) whether anything is or is not true.
(2) A transaction that relates to the outcome of a race,
competition or other event or process may be a bet within
the meaning of subsection (1) despite the facts that—
(a) the race, competition, event or process has already
occurred or been completed, and
(b) one party to the transaction knows the outcome.
(3) A transaction that relates to the likelihood of anything
occurring or not occurring may be a bet within the
meaning of subsection (1) despite the facts that—
(a) the thing has already occurred or failed to occur, and
(b )one party to the transaction knows that the thing has
already occurred or failed to occur.
GamblingCompliance Commentary
Spain also permits in-play betting or live betting.
Betting is defined in Law 13/2011 in Article 3 as:
“Article 3 (c) c) Bets. A bet is understood to be a
gaming activity in which sums of money are risked
on the results of a previously determined event,
whose final result is uncertain and unknown to
participants. The sum of the prize money depends
on the amounts risked or other factors that are
previously set by the regulation of the specific type
of bet.”

France: No but permitted. The Online Gambling Act does
not contain any explicit provision on live betting and
in-play betting but secondary legislation does - through
Article 3 of decree No. 2010-483 of May 12, 2010, which is
a decree on sporting competitions, sports results and live,
or in-play, betting.

However, live bets are limited to fixed-odds bets.
According to Order/3080/2011 Annex I, Article 2 (12)
live fixed odds sports bets are defined as:
“… 12. Live fixed odds sports bet. These bets are
placed while the sports event is taking place,
either during the entire event or the part of the
event established by the operator in their betting
programme.”

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

6.2. If yes, what are the regulatory measures set
with regard to live betting/in-play betting?
Belgium: There are no regulatory measures specifically
dealing with live betting or in-play betting.
Denmark: There are no regulatory measures specifically
dealing with live betting or in-play betting. The general
provisions on betting contained in the Act on Gambling
and the Executive Order on the provision of betting would
apply.
France: There are no regulatory measures specifically
dealing with live betting or in-play betting. However,
Article 3 of decree No. 2010-483 of May 12, 2010 on
sporting competitions and types of sports results deals
with the question of live betting/in-play betting.
Italy: There are no regulatory measures specifically
dealing with live betting or in-play betting. However, live/
in-play betting are treated and regulated just like preplay betting. Some in-play events (those included in the
“official program” or ‘Palinsesto’) are “certified” by AAMS,
meaning that AAMS communicates the official result to
the licensees.
If in-play events are part of the operator’s “customised or
complementary program”, they are required to store for
ten years the taping of the live event, together with a timestamp over-imposed.
United Kingdom: There are no regulatory measures
specifically dealing with live betting or in-play betting.
However, in relation to in-play/live betting, this is termed
“in-running betting”, in IPA 3 of the Remote Gambling
and Software Technical Standards. IPA aims to “make
the customer aware that they may not have the latest
information available when betting on live events, and
that they may be at a disadvantage to operators or other
customers who have more up-to-date information.”
It is a requirement therefore that:
“Information must be made available that explains
that ‘live’ TV or other broadcasts are delayed and that
others may have more up-to-date information. Main inrunning betting pages must be designed to include this
information where practicable.”
Moreover, guidance on this standard states that:
“a. Brief information should be included on main inrunning pages or screens, such as the in- running home
page or screen. More detail should be provided in ‘help’
or ‘how to’ or other product pages or screens.
b. For telephone betting the information should be
included in the general betting or product information
that is made available to and/or sent out to customers.

c. Where a brief notice cannot be practicably included
on the main pages or screens, the information should
be provided on easily accessible ‘help’, ‘how to’ or other
product pages or screens.”

Additional follow-up questions
i) You state that specific rules apply for live betting in
France. Could you explain what these rules consist of?
France: While the Online Gambling Act 2010 does not
contain any explicit provision on in-play, or live betting,
the legal basis for this is found in secondary legislation.
This is through Article 3 of Decree No. 2010-483 of May 12,
2010, which is a Decree on sporting competitions, sports
results and live, or in-play, betting. According to the article
for each sport and for each category of events, ARJEL, the
gambling regulator, defines the types of results which can
be bet.

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

type of result able to be bet on (such as score at half time,
next team to score, next player to score among others).
Paragraph III of this article specifies that such results
include any event occurring during the competition.
Italy: Live and in-play betting in Italy has been permitted
in the form of fixed odds betting over the result of sports
events.
United Kingdom: There are no express provisions in this
regard contained in the UK gambling legislation. The most
predominant form of live betting taking place in the UK is
on sporting events. Live bets can be made via the internet
using either a betting exchange or a bookmaker’s website
while it can also take place in betting shops or over the
phone.

Paragraph II of this article provides that these types of
results can be final results of competitions, or results of
states of play of competitions.
Paragraph III of this article specifies that these results
can include any event occurring during the competition,
therefore regulating in-play betting.
The list maintained by ARJEL lists more than 40 sports ,
with each sport having the type of competitions allowed
to be bet on (such as the UEFA Champions League), and
the type of result able to be bet on (such as score at half
time, next team to score, next player to score among
others).

6.3. Which types of live betting are allowed?
Belgium: There are no express provisions in this regard
contained in the Gaming Act or the Royal Decrees.
However with regard to betting in general the Gaming Act
allows for pari-mutuel and fixed odds betting.
Denmark: There are no express provisions in this regard
contained in the gambling legislation. The explanatory
notes to the Act on Gambling however clarify that the
provisions in the Act on Gambling do not stipulate
for which types of betting a licence may be obtained.
Therefore, the licences may be for ordinary betting on
fixed odds, pool betting and betting exchange.
France: According to Article 3 of decree No. 2010-483
of May 12, 2010 on sporting competitions and types of
sports, for each sport and for each category of events
ARJEL defines the types of results on these competitions,
for which bets can be taken, maintaining a list. This list
maintained by ARJEL currently lists over 40 sports, with
each sport having the type of competitions allowed to
be bet on (such as the UEFA Champions League), and the

22

23

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August 2014

Category 7. Regulation of digital TV gaming and
gambling
7.1. Are games of chance offered on (digital)
television allowed?

following illustrative example from operator Supercasino,
which is on the UK’s channel 5:
“Confirm your identity: We usually won’t ask you to
show us ID provided you have a credit or debit card
registered to the home address you sign-up with.

Belgium: Yes.
Denmark: Yes (restricted to bingo and betting). The Act
on Gambling defines “online gambling” as “gambling
activities between a player and a gambling provider
through the use of remote communication.” Pursuant to
the explanatory notes to the Act on Gambling the offer of
gambling on (digital) television falls within this definition.
However, only the provision of lottery games including
bingo and betting is allowed on digital television. As the
online offer of casino games including poker and slot
machines requires an instant connection of the player
with a digital signature no offer of casino games (including
poker and slot machines) is allowed on (digital) television.

Because security is such a top priority for us we insist
that you sign-up with the same address that your
card is registered to. However, if we cannot verify the
information that you give us, either when you sign-up or
in accordance with our other regulations, we may ask
you to provide further verification of your identity and
address, usually in the form of driver’s license, passport
or credit/debit card invoice details, either online or by
post.
This is to comply with our gaming regulations under the
Gambling Act of 2005. We’ll let you know if we need to
see this type of ID either when you sign up, or by writing
to you (by post and/or email) when you have deposited
more than £1,000 in total into your SuperCasino
account.

Italy: No. According to the regulator they are not allowed.
Only the feed of a live dealer online game (for example,
casino) can be aired, but all the playing activity must be
performed through a gaming account and a pc/mobile
client. However, the list of remote gambling licensees lists
television (and telephone) as a distribution channel.

This is in accordance with Gambling Commission
regulations on money laundering and we request your
understanding when dealing with this issue. Please be
aware that it may be necessary to close or temporarily
suspend your account should we be unable to properly
identify you at any time.”

United Kingdom: Yes. Section 4 of the Gambling Act
2005 provides for the definition of “remote gambling
means in which persons participate by the use of remote
communication”. Remote communication means
communication using any of the following:
»»
»»
»»
»»
»»

The internet
Telephone
Television
Radio
Any other kind of electronic or other technology for
facilitating communication.

Additional follow-up questions
i) In the UK, the same regulation applies to both internet
and TV gaming, since both are considered to be remote.
Are there any practical implications or limitations to make
TV gambling more difficult in the UK? (e.g. something
similar to the NEMID system in Denmark)
United Kingdom: In addition to watersheds (discussed
below), there is not a NEMID equivalent in the UK, which
would make ID verification potentially fraught for digital
TV. Providers usually confirm ID via credit or debit card
details, so therefore one difficulty, could be if the credit/
debit card is registered to a different address, with the

7.2. If yes, which rules apply to games of
chance offered on (digital) television?
Belgium: The Gaming Act provides for G1 licences which
allow the licence holder to offer gambling on TV. The
Gaming Act provides for certain licensing requirements.
The Royal Decree of June 21, 2011 sets certain rules
applicable to gambling offered on TV.
In particular, there are rules for the offer of telephone
gambling (for example who is allowed to participate, the
telephone charges must be between €0.50 and €2, the
games have to be organised and proposed in a correct
and transparent way, rules on winnings, and the selection
of the winners), player protection (in particular the rules
of the games offered have to be available to the players
at all times and on certain media, the presenter of the
games may not encourage players to play excessively,
before each game, an educational message in the form a
voiceover has to appear on TV, etc).

24

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Denmark: As gambling offered on (digital) television is
considered online gambling, the respective provisions on
online gambling are applicable.

7.4. Which types of games of chance may be
offered on (digital) TV?

France: No express provision in the Online Gambling Act
or secondary legislation.

Belgium: The Royal Decree of June 21, 2011 determines
that the Gaming Commission has to state in the licence
granting decision which types of gambling may be offered
on TV.

Italy: United Kingdom: As TV gambling falls within the
definition of remote gambling, the respective provisions
on online gambling are applicable.

7.3. Which regulatory measures apply to games
of chance offered on (digital) television?
(licences, etc)
Belgium: The Gaming Act provides for G1 licences which
allow the licence holder to offer gambling on TV. The
Gaming Act provides for certain licensing requirements.
The Royal Decree of June 21, 2011 sets certain rules
applicable to gambling offered on TV, in particular rules
on the offer of telephone gambling (for example who is
allowed to participate, the telephone charges must be
between €0.50 and €2, the games have to be organised
and proposed in a correct and transparent way, rules
on winnings, and the selection of the winners), player
protection (in particular the rules of the games offered
have to be available to the players at all times and on
certain media, the presenter of the games may not
encourage players to play excessively, before each game,
an educational message in the form a voiceover has to
appear on TV, etc).
Denmark: As the Act on Gambling provides for an
unlimited number of online licences for betting and
monopoly licences for the provision of online lottery
games and online horse and dog race betting there is an
unlimited number of licences available for the provision
of betting on (digital) television and one licence for the
provision of lottery games and horse and dog race betting
on (digital) television.
France: Italy: United Kingdom: According to the Gambling Act 2005,
games of chance offered on television fall under the
category of remote gambling. The Gambling Commission
is responsible for issuing operating licences which
authorise the licensee to operate a casino, provide
facilities for pool betting/playing bingo and more. It is
stated that an operating licence is a “remote operating
licence” if it authorises activity to be carried on – (a) in
respect of remote gambling or (b) by means of remote
communication”.

Denmark: The Act on Gambling defines “online
gambling” as “gambling activities between a player
and a gambling provider through the use of remote
communication.” Therefore the offer of gambling on
(digital) TV falls within this definition. However, only the
provision of lottery games including bingo and betting is
allowed on digital television. As the online offer of casino
games including poker and slot machines requires an
instant connection of the player with a digital signature no
offer of casino games (including poker and slot machines)
is allowed on (digital) television.
France: Italy: United Kingdom: All the types of “remote gambling”
permitted in the UK, would be permitted over television,
since it is considered a means of ‘remote communication’.

7.5. Are there certain restrictions on when such
games of chance may be offered on digital
(television) etc?
Belgium: No. There are no express provisions in the
gambling legislation. The Royal Decree of June 21, 2010,
however states that before each game, an educational
message in the form a voiceover has to appear on TV.
Denmark: In Denmark they do not have any limitation in
proportion to what time of day television shows can be
shown, cf. the recommendation from the EU.
While there are no express provisions in the online
gambling legislation, Section 36 of the Act on Gambling
contains various rules which apply to the marketing of
gambling activities (chance of winning has to be presented
in a correct and balanced manner, marketing shall not
aim at young people under the age of 18 neither in its
communication nor in the choice of media, etc).
Italy: United Kingdom: The UK Gambling Commission
released a note on Gambling services on TV channels, in
October 2009. This note said that:
“Transactional TV services offering gambling content have
been in existence for some years and indeed in advance
of the 2005 Gambling Act (the Act). At that time, they

25

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

were restricted to “betting” services but, in the wake of the
agreement in respect of allowable content on fixed odds
betting terminals, such betting content was deemed to
include virtual roulette and virtual horse and dog racing.
Also, as betting and gaming advertising was not permitted
on UK television, gambling-based output could exist only
as editorial programme services.
The introduction of the act changed the position in two
respects; it removed the restrictions both on gambling
advertising and on the range of remote gambling
services which can be offered within Great Britain. The
consequence was that transactional gambling services
could be offered as either editorial programming or
teleshopping (advertising) and on all types of gambling.”

August 2014

content as editorial programming to do so in the future in
teleshopping slots.”
Therefore, transactional gambling Games of chance
offered on TV are able to be shown between midnight and
6am. This rule is found in the “Code on the scheduling of
television advertising”. An updated code from December
2010 noted that:

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

For the purposes of this code sporting events do not
include sports-themed entertainment programmes
such as (but not exclusively) dancing and ice-skating
competitions and quizzes. The sponsorship of
sporting events themselves, as opposed to their
televised coverage, is not affected by this code.”

“Teleshopping windows must be at least 15 minutes
long:
a) on public service channels, teleshopping windows
may be scheduled only between midnight and 6am; and
b) on other channels, there are no limits on the number
or scheduling of teleshopping windows.”

In recent times such gambling services have been offered
both on dedicated channels (where it is shown for all
or much of the day) and on general services (where it is
typically shown in blocks). Ofcom have summarised what
is available as follows:

GamblingCompliance Commentary
Many jurisdictions have ‘watersheds’ with respect
to the promotion of gambling – that is, this cannot
occur until after a certain time (sometimes with
exceptions for advertising betting during live sports
broadcasts). In the UK, the gambling advertising
watershed for most forms of gambling is 9pm.
For the UK this is found in the ‘Gambling Industry
Code for Socially Responsible Advertising’ and has
codes paragraphs 30-32 on television advertising –
Watershed. The code states:

“Typically, this content offers roulette, bingo, card
games and virtual horse and dog racing. Viewers are
able to open accounts and take part in pay gambling.
Some services are predicated on this output; other,
more general programme services carry extended
features or ‘windows’, usually three or four hours in
length, that are generally simultaneous broadcasts of
the dedicated channels.“

“30. Under the Gambling Act 2005 it is legal to
offer a wider range of gambling advertising than
was previously the case. The content of that
advertising will be governed by the BCAP codes
(see paragraph 5), but the gambling industry is
aware that concerns exist about the potential
effect of a rapid growth in television advertising.
Although gambling operators will advertise in a
socially responsible manner in compliance with
the BCAP codes it is right to proceed with caution,
especially in relation to the protection of children.

The output itself usually involves inviting or encouraging
viewers to gamble, showing the “event” and displaying the
results and winners. Bets can be placed by such means as
the “red button” or phone.
There have been two significant changes to broadcasting
regulation in recent months which have impacted on
such services. First, as mentioned above, transactional TV
services offering gambling content could from September
2007 choose whether to hold an ‘editorial’ licence and
broadcast as ‘programming’ or a licence granted on the
basis of the output being treated as teleshopping (or in
other words as advertising).

31. Consequently, this code requires that new
gambling products (NB not those, such as bingo,
that were permissible prior to 1 September 2007),
should not be advertised on television before
the commonly accepted watershed time of
9.00pm. For the avoidance of doubt, it is worth
underlining here that the sponsorship of television
programmes is classified as advertising (for a
definition of advertising, see Section 327 of the
Gambling Act 2005).

Earlier this year Ofcom consulted on and then
implemented a change that means all such output is now
treated as teleshopping. The move to treat transactional
gambling services as only teleshopping by Ofcom (the
communications regulator) was announced in May
2009, when Ofcom said: “Ofcom has today published
a statement on the status of transactional gambling
services(-7-). From 1 June 2009, such content, which has
previously been regulated as editorial content, will be
treated as teleshopping.

32. The exception to this rule is the advertising of
sports betting around televised sporting events.
The majority of these events take place or begin
before 9.00pm and given the direct relationship
between the two it would be unreasonable to
prevent the advertising of betting opportunities.

One effect of the decisions made in this statement will
be to enable those channels (including PSB channels)
that have previously scheduled transactional gambling

26

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Category 8. Policies in terms of transition periods
between pre-regulatory and regulated environments,
with reference to player accounts/blackout periods,
etc
8.1. How did the transition of players/
customers of remote games of chance
operators to the regulated environment take
place?
Belgium: No express provision in the Gaming Act on
online gambling.
Denmark: As long as the player’s identity was verified, it
was possible for the game providers to migrate existing
players.
The explanatory notes to the Act on Gambling suggested
at the time that the: “government believes that the
implementation of this legislation will lead to the creation
of greater order on the Danish gaming market, which has
been characterised by illegal marketing and provision
of games by foreign providers and by the inability of the
courts of law to enforce the legislation, inter alia because
the European Commission has commenced infringement
proceedings against Denmark.”
Denmark therefore considered the offering of online
gambling by operators not licensed by Denmark against
Danish gambling regulation which was in force.
However, Denmark recognised that the online gambling
legislation in force at that time was in potential breach of
EU law and therefore not applicable. The prohibition could
therefore not be enforced and online gambling operators
established in other member states of the EU offered their
services in Denmark during the transition period.

Under the move to point of consumption licensing,
operators currently active on the market are expected
to qualify for continuation licences. The UK Gambling
Commission expects that such operators will need to
submit an application and pay a fee during the transitional
period. Operators holding a continuation licence will
only be permitted to supply products which are already
on the market and are required to ensure they apply for
the correct size of licence. The Gambling Commission
has stated that “continuation licences are full licences
albeit ones subject to termination or suspension if the
substantive application is not determined positively or
their overseas licences cease to have effect.”
The Statutory Instrument to put the Gambling (Licensing
and Advertising) Act 2014 into force was tabled in
parliament on June 25. Following this the Gambling
Commission said that it is “now accepting licence
applications....Operators who meet this requirement
[hold a licence in an EEA or white listed jurisdiction] must
have submitted an advance application with the relevant
application fee by midnight (Greenwich Mean Time) on 16
September 2014 to be eligible for a continuation licence.
If the application has not been determined by 1 October
2014 the applicant will be issued with a continuation
licence that will enable them to continue to operate until
completion of the application process.”
GamblingCompliance Commentary 1
Spain: Prior to the awarding of the first online
gambling licences in the country, online gambling
operators were required to eliminate client lists
(databases) and create new accounts for players.
Additionally, companies which applied for a
gambling licence in Spain and were known to offer
online gambling services in the country prior to the
approval and implementation of legislation for the
operation of online gambling activities, were also
required to pay back-dated taxes, since the moment
the companies were estimated to have entered the
Spanish gambling market.

France: No express provision in the Online Gambling Act
or secondary legislation.
Italy: Only the personal data of existing .com accounts
can be transferred to an .it platform. By no means the
existing .com balances can be transferred (according to
Italian law, that would be treated as money laundering).
So, the former .com players must withdraw their balances
and then decide to deposit the money again into their .it
accounts.

The measures listed above were not explicitly
considered by the Spanish gambling law.

United Kingdom: Currently operators that are based in
an EEA and “white-listed” countries (Alderney, Antigua
and Barbuda, Isle of Man and Tasmania) do not need a UK
licence to offer their services legally in the UK.

GamblingCompliance Commentary 2
Greece: Despite the fact that no licensing process
has been formally implemented in Greece, to date

28

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Greece is host to 24 online gambling licensees.
However, these licensees only hold a temporary
licence which was granted by the Ministry of Finance
in 2012, not by the Hellenic Gaming Commission
which is the authority in charge licensing gambling
activities in the country. As part of the conditions
imposed on these 24 licensees, the Ministry of
Finance, following a similar approach to that
of Spain, required online gambling operators
interested in obtaining one of these temporary
licences to pay back dated taxes in order to be
eligible for a temporary online gambling licence.
Following a similar approach to that of Spain, the
Greek Ministry of Finance did not base its decision
on requiring the payment of back-dated taxes on
gambling legislation, instead, the ministry based
its decision on administrative legislation which has
established that tax measures can be applicable to
past situations within certain time periods. In this
particular case, online gambling operators were
required to pay back taxes to the Greek state since
2010.

8.2. In particular, did already existing player
accounts stay in place?
Belgium: No express provision in the Gaming Act on
online gambling
Denmark: No. Existing players received a new account.
The accounts had to be validated by cpr. No. (personal
security no).
France: No express provision in the Online Gambling Act
or secondary legislation.
Italy: It is mandatory not to accept players from Italy (or
let them play) on the existing .com platform. They must all
be directed to the .it site. Infringing this rule would cause
a suspension of the Italian license. There is no transition
period, as .com and .it cannot overlap.
United Kingdom: Yes. This would seem to be the case
with the transitional licence arrangements described
above.

8.3. Was there a “blackout period”? How long
did such a black period last?
Belgium: No express provision in the Gaming Act on
online gambling.
Denmark: No. There was not a “blackout period” in the
transitional phase.

Italy: No. No blackout periods have been established.
United Kingdom: No. However, with licence applications,
according to the Gambling Commission a “dead period”
is expected to occur for approximately two weeks before
the Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act 2014 comes
into effect: “to ensure that the Commission can process
applications in time for ‘go live’.”

8.4. During the transition period, were
operators allowed to advertise their remote
games of chance services?
Belgium: No provisions in the Gaming Act on online
gambling.
Denmark: No. The Act of gambling came into force by
January 1, 2012.
Only games providers with a licence were/are allowed to
advertise, therefore it was not allowed to advertise before
January 1, 2012 if you did not hold a licence. The regulator
includes information on promotion of games in newsletter
no. 7.
France: Italy: No. Advertising was allowed only after the .it site
was launched.
United Kingdom: Yes.

8.5. Did remote games of chance operators
have to pay taxes applicable to licensees
during the transition period?
Belgium: No provisions in the Gaming Act on online
gambling.
Denmark: The licence holder started paying taxes from
the day they started providing games. Not earlier than
January 1, 2012. They did however pay an application fee
when they applied for their licence in the fall of 2011.
France: Italy: They have to pay taxes only on the .it gaming
activity.
United Kingdom: No. The Finance Bill which received
royal assent on July 17, 2014, and has now become the
Finance Act 2014, will only have applicable taxation
(remote gaming duty) obligations from December 1, 2014.

France: No express provision in the Online Gambling Act
or secondary legislation.

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

8.6. Does national legislation provide for any
time limits for the identification of existing
players?

I.e., during the month of January it will not be mandatory
to open temporary accounts in the name of either
existing or new customers. However, 1 March 2012 at
the latest validation must be finalized. If not, due to the
entry into force of the Executive Orders as of 1 February
2012 the accounts must be closed.

Belgium: No express provisions in the Gaming Act on
online gambling.

In order to assess whether payments of more than
DKK10,000 may call upon attention, until 1 March
2012 the Danish Gambling Authority will carry out
selections in the data received in SAFE and by the use
of spot checks. In that connection, licence holders may
be obliged to provide additional information of the
accounts in question.

Denmark: No express provision in the Act on Gambling
or the Executive Orders on the provision of betting and
online casinos. However, the Danish Gaming Authority
issued a number of newsletters in the run up to the market
opening. In Newsletter number 3 they stated this:
“We have received a number of queries regarding the
paragraph: Licence holders should be aware that the
requirement for validation of registered players’ identity
information must still be applied and that in the period
from 1 January to 29 February 2012 they must use an
alternative to the digital signature, e.g. passport and
driver’s licence etc.
In the additional terms we will require that the license
holder obtain information concerning their customer’s
identity i.e. name, address and CPR number. The
obtained information needs to be verified by an
independent and reliable source.
In addition the information has to be verified through
supplementary documentation. NemID can be used in
this regard. However, since this might not be an option
for some license holders alternative supplementary
documentation needs to be obtained. In Guide on
betting and online casino p.p. 30 in the section Proof of
the customer’s identity examples of what constitutes
supplementary documentation.

The Danish Gambling Authority stresses that gaming
accounts opened on the 1 February 2012 and onwards
will have to be temporary accounts in accordance with
the requirements stated in the executive orders.”
France: Italy: Yes. Players must send a copy of their ID to the
operator within 30 days from when they have opened a
gaming account. Failure to do so implies a suspension of
the gaming account. The ID is necessary anyway before
any withdrawing activity.
United Kingdom: No. Not specified in the main gambling
act.

Category 9. Jackpot limits, minimums and measures
in place to guarantee payment
9.1. Any specific regulation with regard to
jackpots?

»»
»»

»»

Denmark: No. However, the Spillemyndigheden’s
technical standards contain some provisions on the
fairness and transparency of jackpots, rules that
apply to jackpots, the setup, notification, triggers and
discontinuation of jackpots.
France: No express provision in the Online Gambling Act
or secondary legislation.

Additional question: What specific rules apply
to jackpots in Denmark?

“Due to the recent challenges of NemID not being
ready for use as on 1 January 2012, the Danish Gambling
Authority has decided to make it possible for licence
holders to open permanent accounts in the name of
registered players on the following premises:
1. As of 1 January 2012 cpr. no. validation of the registered
players must be carried out.
2. Validation by the use of NemID or alternative
documentation must be carried out prior to 1 March
2012.

Denmark: According to the Testing Standards for Online
Casino SCP.01.03.EN.1.0 section 3.3 states regarding that:
“3.3 jackpots
3.3.1 General
1. The gambling system shall ensure that the actual
funds transferred to a jackpot correspond to what is
stated in the rules governing the jackpot in question.

30

2. The gambling system shall ensure that the return to
player corresponds to what the customer has been led
to expect, irrespective of the game unit stake.
3. If a minimum stake is required for a customer to
trigger a jackpot, the basic game (ex Jackpot) shall have
the stated return to player.

The distribution of prizes must be clearly known
before the player starts the game.
In the event of any modifications to the prize
distribution in accordance with the rules of the game,
the licence holder shall retain records of the previous
distributions.
Modifications to prize distribution must under no
circumstances take effect during the game.

United Kingdom: No. However, progressive jackpots
are considered in the Remote Gambling and Software
Technical Standards. It provides the following definition:
“an incremental prize that increases as a result of
contributions from the monies staked within a game from
a pre-set base value”.

Furthermore, Newsletter number 6 stated the following:

Guidance: If there is a maximum amount on a jackpot,
all further contributions after this maximum has been
reached shall be credited to another pool (see below for
details).

Belgium: No specific regulation in the Gaming Act and
the Royal Decrees currently in force. The Royal Decrees
notified by Belgium to the European Commission on April
22, 2014 contains some provisions on the distribution of
prizes and in particular states that:

Italy: No. However, progressive jackpots are considered
by the Certification Guidance Version 1.1. According to
annex A, games can only be considered to include a
jackpot function when: i) serves as a supplement of main
game ii) its funds are generated partially or entirely for the
players’ bets iii) the prize is combined with that of future
events when there is not winner.

In addition to what is stated in the Guide it should be
added that the aforementioned customer information
does not necessarily have to be obtained and verified
after 1 January 2012. Information previously supplied
by the customer can be used. This does also apply to
documentation such as passport, bank statements
etc. as long as it can be reasonably assumed to still
be current. Therefore it is already possible to migrate
customers.”

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

4. The gambling system shall ensure that all customers
who contribute to a jackpot have a chance of winning
the jackpot while playing the game in question.
5. The gambling system shall ensure that the likely
chance of winning the jackpot is linearly proportional to
the customer’s contribution to the jackpot.”

9.2. Any minimum requirements guaranteeing
the actual payout of the jackpot?
Belgium: No. However, the Royal Decree of June 21,
2011 determines that a licence applicant has to provide
a detailed plan explaining how the licence applicant
will secure the payment of the winnings and all other
payments made between the player and the licensee.
Denmark: No. However, Section 11 of the Executive Order
on the provision of betting and Section 12 of the Executive
Order on online casinos require that a licence holder
has to have a set-off free bank account for the players’
funds, which must be kept separate from other funds of
the licence holder. The funds in the account may solely
be payable to players and they must be protected in case
of the licence holder’s insolvency. The amount held in
the account must always be equal to the total amount
deposited on the players’ gambling accounts. In applying
for an online casino or betting licence the applicant must
attach a declaration from the financial institution about
the set-off free account and how it is ensured that the
conditions of the Executive Orders are met.
Specifically with regard to jackpot winnings the
Spillemyndigheden’s technical standards require that the
gambling system shall be able to restore jackpot amounts
and jackpot prizes on the basis of customer contributions
to the jackpot.
France: No express provision contained in the Online
Gambling Act or secondary legislation.

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

Italy: No express provision contained in the online
gambling legislation. However, the Certification Guidance
Version 1.1 states that jackpots can only be implemented in
relation to those activities which have been authorised by
the Italian gambling authority. Additionally the guidance
establishes that the jackpots are subject to specific
regulation of the games which serves as a base for its
implementation (for example, gaming machines) which
are generally subject to a minimum payout.
United Kingdom: No express provision contained in the
main gambling legislation. However, progressive jackpots
are referred in RTS 3 of the Gambling and software
Technical Standards (August 2009). This section applies
to gaming (including bingo), lotteries and betting on
virtual event and its objective is to inform customers when
making their decision about whether to gamble based on
their likelihood of winning, how the game, lottery or event
work, the offers on the prizes or payouts and the state of
multi-state games or events. RTS requirement 3A provides
that before gambling the customer must be provided
with an explanation of all the applicable rules and “all
reasonable steps must be taken to ensure that the content
is understandable.” The content must include, among
other things: if there are any contributions to jackpots/
progressives and how the jackpot operates (for example, if
winning the jackpot is achieved by a certain result).
RTS requirement 3D states that before a customer decides
to gamble on a virtual event, game (including bingo),
or lottery, content explaining the potential prizes and
payouts or the means by which these are calculated must
be accessible. The following should be noted: “Displays
of jackpot amounts that change over time (progressives)
should be updated as frequently as practicable,
particularly after the amount has been reset following a
win.”

9.3. Other guarantees for the payment of
players’ winnings (especially in the event of
bankruptcy)?
Belgium: Yes. The Royal Decree of June 21, 2011
determines that a licence applicant has to provide a
detailed plan explaining how the licence applicant
will secure the payment of the winnings and all other
payments made between the player and the licensee.
Denmark: Yes. Section 11 of the Executive Order on the
provision of betting and Section 12 of the Executive Order
on online casinos require that a licence holder has to have
a setoff-free bank account for the players’ funds, which
must be kept separate from other funds of the licence
holder. The funds in the account may solely be payable to
players and they must be protected in case of the licence
holder’s insolvency. The amount held in the account must
always be equal to the total amount deposited on the
players’ gambling accounts. When applying for an online

August 2014

casino or betting licence the applicant must attach a
declaration from the financial institution about the set-off
free account and a description of how it is ensured that the
conditions of the Executive Orders are met.
The licence applicant is required to provide a copy of its
procedures and controls designed to ensure that the
applicant has sufficient funds to pay out all potential
winnings. The guidelines on how to fill the application
form on the Gambling Authorities’ website states that
a funding plan containing a specific description of
mathematical calculations of financial risks and the
funding of such risks. Financial risks include for example
currency risk, interest rate risk and gambling risk.
France: No express provision in the Online Gambling Act
or secondary legislation.
Italy: No express provisions contained in the online
gambling legislation.
United Kingdom: Yes. Licence condition 4.1.1 of the LCCP
which applies to all remote operating licences states
that “licensees who hold customer funds must ensure
that these are held in a separate client bank account
or accounts”. Licence condition 4.2.1 of the LCCP also
requires that licensees who hold customer funds must
“set clearly in the terms and conditions under which they
provide facilities for gambling information about whether
customer funds are protected in the event of insolvency,
the level of such protection and the method by which this
is achieved”.
These codes are extracted in full below:
Licence condition 4.1.1
Segregation of funds
1. Licensees who hold customer funds must ensure
that these are held in a separate client bank account or
accounts.
2. In this condition ‘customer funds’ means the aggregate
value of funds held to the credit of customers including,
without limitation:
a cleared funds deposited with the licensee by
customers to provide stakes in, or to meet participation
fees in respect of, future gambling, b winnings or prizes
which the customer has chosen to leave on deposit with
the licensee or for which the licensee has yet to account
to the customer, and c any crystallised but as yet unpaid
loyalty or other bonuses, in each case irrespective of
whether the licensee is a party to the gambling contract.
Licence condition 4.2.1
Disclosure to customers
1. Licensees who hold customer funds must set out
clearly in the terms and conditions under which they
provide facilities for gambling information about whether

32

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

customer funds are protected in the event of insolvency,
the level of such protection and the method by which this
is achieved.
2. Such information must be according to such rating
system and in such form the Commission may from time
to time specify. It must be provided in writing to each
customer, in a manner which requires the customer to
acknowledge receipt of the information and does not
permit the customer to utilise the funds for gambling until
they have done so, both on the first occasion on which
the customer deposits funds and on the occasion of any
subsequent deposit which is the first since a change in the
licensee’s terms in relation to protection of such funds.

United Kingdom: No. No express provision contained
in the Gambling Act 2005. The LCCP provides for
segregation of funds in licence condition 4.1.1 (extracted
above). All licensees must make sure that the customer
funds they are holding are held in a separate client bank
account or accounts.
GamblingCompliance Commentary
The offshore gambling hub of Alderney conducted
a review, which, in part, looked at the protection
of player funds. The review was brought on by the
collapse of Alderney licensee, Full Tilt Poker, after
the operator was charged by US authorities in the
now infamous ‘Black Friday’ indictments in April
2011. The 15-week review was led by Peter Dean,
former chairman of the UK Gambling Commission,
looking at a “warts and all” inspection of Alderney’s
actions in the wake of the US indictments which
eventually led to the demise of Full Tilt Poker and
the loss of millions of dollars in player’s funds. With
respect to player funds, Alderney made changes the Alderney eGambling (Amendment) Regulations
2012, came into force in July 2012, and requires
Category 1 eGambling licensees to “segregate
funds standing to the credit of customers in a
separate bank account held solely for that purpose”.
Additionally, licensees must submit monthly reports
to the AGCC about player funds. Furthermore, the
regulations stipulate that licensees must “take
reasonable steps to identify any improper attempts
to influence the outcome of any event upon which
gaming may take place”, as well as report such
activity to the AGCC.

3. In this condition ‘customer funds’ means the aggregate
value of funds held to the credit of customers including,
without limitation:
a cleared funds deposited with the licensee by
customers to provide stakes in, or to meet participation
fees in respect of, future gambling,
b winnings or prizes which the customer has chosen
to leave on deposit with the licensee or for which the
licensee has yet to account to the customer, and
c any crystallised but as yet unpaid loyalty or other
bonuses, in each case irrespective of whether the
licensee is a party to the gambling contract.

9.4. Does national legislation require the
licensee to have separate bank accounts for the
players’ winnings and the other business of the
licensee?
Belgium: No express provision contained in the Gaming
Act or the Royal Decrees.
Denmark: Yes. Section 11 of the Executive Order on the
provision of betting and Section 12 of the Executive Order
on online casinos require that a licence holder has to have
a setoff-free bank account for the players’ funds, which
must be kept separate from other funds of the licence
holder. The funds in the account may solely be payable to
players and they must be protected in case of the licence
holder’s insolvency. The amount held in the account must
always be equal to the total amount deposited on the
players’ gambling accounts. When applying for an online
casino or betting licence the applicant must attach a
declaration from the financial institution about the set-off
free account and a description of how it is ensured that the
conditions of the Executive Orders are met.
France: No express provision contained in the Online
Gambling Act or secondary legislation.
Italy: Yes. Law 88/2009 (Legge Communitaria) Article
24 (17) (m) has established that operators are under
obligation of using a dedicated bank account to manage
players’ deposits.

33

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Category 10. Regulatory approaches towards multicurrency payment

Category 11. Provisions addressing player accounts in
terms of minimum/maximum balance

10.1. Is payment in other currencies allowed?
(Explicitly mentioned in the law)

11.1. Any regulation which sets a maximum
balance of a player’s account?

Belgium: No express provisions contained in the Gaming
Act and the Royal Decrees. Section 6 of the Royal Decree
notified by Belgium to the European Commission on April
22, 2014, however states that a licence holder may offer an
international game provided that the player continues to
play with the authorised Belgian website.

Belgium: There are no express provisions contained in the
online gambling legislation.
Denmark: No. There are no express provisions contained
in the online gambling legislation. However, the Executive
Orders for the provision of betting and online casinos
respectively provide that for temporary accounts (time
between registration of player and full identity check of
the player) the customer may only deposit a maximum
amount of DKK 10,000 to his account.

Denmark: No express provisions contained in the online
gambling legislation. In the FAQs for gambling providers
published on the website of the Gambling Authority the
latter however clarifies that a player may play in various
different currencies.

France: Yes.

France: According to Article 14 of decree n° 2010-518
of May 19, 2010, the amounts in the player account are
expressed in euros. However, currency conversions can
occur, suggesting other currencies can be permitted.
The currency conversion operations carried out by the
operator for the player’s account, requires an operator
to give exchange rate information applicable prior to the
commencement of the game or bet giving rise to the
conversion.

Italy: No. There are no express provisions contained in
the online gambling legislation. However, players must
be able to set up maximum deposit limits. In this regard
the regulations have established that gambling accounts
must have a set limit, and there cannot be unlimited funds
accounts.
United Kingdom: No. There are no express provisions
contained in the Gambling Act 2005. However, a
requirement is stated in the Remote Gambling and
Software Technical Standards for a gambling system to
provide facilities for customers which make it possible to
set their own financial limits.

Italy: No express provisions contained in the online
gambling legislation.
United Kingdom: No express provisions contained in
the Gambling Act 2005. However, RTS 2 of the Remote
Gambling and Software Technical Standards states that
it is “preferable” to display the amount being gambled
either in the currency of the customer’s account or in
the currency of the product. If there are any conversion
changes from one currency to another and any conversion
rules the customer must be made aware of them. RTS
1A also states that, in relation to Customer Account
Information:

11.2 .If yes, are licensees themselves required
to transfer the players’ winnings back to his
bank account when the maximum balance is
exceeded?
Belgium: Denmark: France: French law requires players to set mandatory win
limits when registering their account with the verification
code sent in the post by a gambling operator. Article 17
of the Online Gambling Law 2010 states that the player is
required to set an amount, over which any winnings will be
transferred back to their bank account:

“Where customers hold a credit or debit balance, the
pages or screens used to move money into and out of
accounts or products must be designed to display the
customer’s current account or product balance, either
in the currency of their account or the currency of the
gambling product (e.g. dollars, euros or pounds sterling),
whenever that customer is logged in.”

“When entering the secret code mentioned in the first
paragraph of Article 5, the operator is required to ask
the player to determine an amount beyond which
the available winnings from the player account are
automatically transferred to their payment account
referred in paragraph 1 of section 2. No gambling

34

operation can be performed until the player has
determined this amount. The player must be able to
change this amount at any time by an easily accessible
device.”
Italy: United Kingdom: -

11.3. Can players set maximum limits for their
own account?
Belgium: There are no express provisions contained in the
online gambling legislation.
Denmark: Yes. The Executive Orders on the provision
of betting and online casinos provide for deposit limits
which players can set. The rules state at Article 15 and 17
respectively that:
“The licence holder must make a function available to
the player that allows the player to set daily, weekly
and monthly deposit limits. A player’s request to set a
deposit limit shall be implemented immediately upon
request; but see paragraph 2.
Paragraph 2. A player’s request for an increase of a
previously fixed deposit limit may not come into force
until after 24 hours have passed.”
France: Yes. Players must set mandatory betting limit
within 7 days of setting an account. If the player is required
to indicate betting limits, the operator cannot fix these
limits. The player sets the limits.
Italy: Yes. Online gambling operators are required to
allow players to establish limits in their accounts. In
those cases in which the players prefers not to establish
betting limits the operator will be required to establish
those limits. Player’s accounts cannot be unlimited or by
default. Players must set limits. Any increase in a player’s
deposit limit can only take effect after seven days from the
change, however, decreases in deposit limits a required to
take effect immediately.
United Kingdom: Yes. The RTS 12 of the Remote
Gambling and Software Technical Standards state that
during the registration process (or when the customer
makes the first deposit or payment) customers should be
able to set their own limits. RTS 12A states:
“[T]he gambling system must provide easily accessible
facilities that make it possible for customers to impose
their own financial limits. Customers must be given
the opportunity to set a limit as part of the registration

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

process (or at the point at which the customer makes
the first deposit or payment).”

GamblingCompliance Commentary: The UK
launched a wide ranging consultation in August
2014. One of the proposals is to strengthen financial
limit requirements in the technical standards. The
Gambling Commission is proposing:

In terms of telephone gambling (with the exception of
lotteries), when customers register they must be asked
whether they would prefer to set a deposit or spend
limit. Even after registration customers should be able to
request a limit and the limit should be applied as soon as
practicable. The customer should also be notified of when
the limit is enforced.

“to strengthen RTS 12B to make it a requirement
that before a customer’s financial limit is increased
they must confirm that they still wish to increase
the limit at the end of the cooling-off period. This is
therefore elevated from implementation guidance
to requirement in the draft below.

In terms of other access media (including internet,
interactive TV and mobile) customers should be given the
option to choose a deposit/spend limit from a list which
may also have a “no limit” selection or they should be able
to enter their own limit as part of the registration process
or first deposit process.

We also propose to state that operators should
offer customers the choice of selecting the time
periods over which a financial limit applies and
these should include 24 hours, 7 days and one
month.”

The types of limit option can include deposit, spend or
loss limits. These are outlined in RTS 12 as:
»»
»»

»»

“deposit limits: where the amount a customer
deposits into their account is limited over a particular
duration
spend limits: where the amount a customer spends
on gambling (or specific gambling products) is
restricted for a given period – this type of limit may
be appropriate where the customer does not hold a
deposit account with the operator
loss limits: where the amount lost (i.e. winnings
subtracted from the amount spent) is restricted (for
instance when a customer makes a £10 bet and wins
£8, the loss is £2).”

The duration of the player’s limit cannot be less than 24
hours, the technical standards also note that limits may be
implemented per customer, accounts, or other methods;
as well as either across all product channels or across
individual products or channels. Links to limit facilities are
also required on an operator’s homepage/s, as well as
limit facilities being available on deposit pages or linked to
from deposit pages. [RTS 12A guidance paragraph d, e).
Should a player wish to increase their limits, a cooling
off period of 24 hours applies before these are to come
into effect (RTS requirement 12B). Guidance on this
requirement states that:
“a. Increases should not be implemented until a coolingoff period of at least 24 hours from the point at which
the request to increase the limit was received. Where it
is practicable to do so, the customer should be required
to confirm that they still wish to increase the limit at the
end of the cooling-off period.
b. Where possible (for instance, unless systems/
technical failures prevent it) limit reductions are to be
implemented within 24 hours of the request being
received.”

11.4. Any regulation which sets the minimum
balance of a player’s account?
Belgium: No. No express provisions contained in the
online gambling legislation.
Denmark: No. No express provisions contained in the
online gambling legislation. However, according to
Section 35 of the Act on Gambling a licence holder
shall not extend credit to the player for participation
in gambling activities. Also the Spillemyndigheden’s
technical standards state that the gambling system may
not allow a withdrawal which will result in the customer’s
account balance becoming negative. Accordingly the
gambling system shall not allow a stake to be placed in a
game that could result in the customer’s account balance
becoming negative.
France: No. No express provisions contained in the Online
Gambling Act or secondary legislation.
Italy: No. No express provisions contained in the online
gambling legislation.
United Kingdom: No. No express provisions contained
in the Gambling Act 2005 or the Remote Gambling and
Software Technical Standards. However, in the technical
standards, RTS 1A states, in part, “Where customers hold
a credit or debit balance, the pages or screens....” – which
does suggest that players can have a debit balance.

11.5. Any regulation which sets a maximum
deposit limit (for which period, per game or per
month, etc)?
Belgium: Yes. The Royal Decree notified by Belgium to
the European Commission on April 22, 2014 provides that:

36

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

»»
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»»

subtracted from the amount spent) is restricted (for
instance when a customer makes a £10 bet and wind
£8, the loss is £2).”

The maximum stake per game for ‘slot machine’ type
games operated by the holder of a Class A+ licence
shall be €100.
With the exception of interactive poker, the maximum
stake per game operated by the holder of a Class B+
licence shall be €25 for games of minimum duration
three seconds, and €150 for roulette and card games.
The maximum stake per bet organised by the holder
of a class F1+ supplementary licence and relating to
an event shall be €1000 per bet for an event taking
place and €150 per bet placed during the event. Under
certain circumstances the F1+ licence holder may
authorise no-limits gambling.

GamblingCompliance Commentary:
Spain: According to Spain’s Royal Decree 1614/2011
at Article 36, Spanish licensees are required to
offer deposit limits to players. While these are
self-imposed limits, operators must limit deposits
to a maximum of €600 per day; €1,500 per week
and €3,000 per month according to Appendix II of
Royal Decree 1614/2011. According to 36(2) of Royal
Decree 1614/2011:
“Gaming operators must offer participants the
option of voluntarily setting limits on their deposits
of amounts lower than those generally applicable
[as set out in Appendix II, cited above]. Each
participant may make such a request expressly and
individually. Gaming operators must grant these
requests immediately, and therefore must have and
offer participants the technical systems needed for
these self-imposed limits.”

Denmark: Yes. The Executive Orders on the provision
of betting and online casinos provide that the licensee
must make a function available to the player to set daily,
weekly and monthly (24 hours, 7 days and 30 days from
the time of registration) deposit limits. All three options
must be offered to the players, and it must be possible for
the individual player to set a nominal amount of their own
choice.
Also the Spillemyndigheden’s technical standards
specify that the gambling system shall give notification
or generate a report when a customer makes a deposit
or carries out a transaction of DKK20,000 or more (or
corresponding amounts in one or more other currencies).
France: No. No express provisions contained in the Online
Gambling Act or secondary legislation.
Italy: No. Section 2.4.6 of the Certification Guidance,
states that the gambling system must make players set
their deposit limits, with the gambling system prohibited
from having an unlimited deposit level. This selfimposed deposit limit of a player, is also subject to a rule
(Certification Guidance 2.4.6) which requires any increase
in a player’s deposit limit to take effect only after seven
days from the change, however, decreases in deposit
limits a required to take effect immediately. Gambling
operator are also prohibited from offering default limits to
a player, with limits only able to be set by a player, not an
operator (Certification Guidance 2.4.6).
United Kingdom: No. No express provisions contained
in the Gambling Act 2005 or the Remote Gambling and
Software Technical Standards. However, the Remote
Gambling and Software Technical Standards provide that
limits set by customers could be “in the form of:
»»
»»
»»

deposit limits: where the amount of customer
deposits into their account is limited over a particular
duration
spend limits: where the amount a customer spends on
gambling (or specific gambling products) is restricted
for a given period
loss limits: where the amount lost (i.e. winning

Additional question:
i) What reasoning or logic is behind the maximum stakes
per game allowed in Belgium? And behind the maximum
set in the player profile in Spain?
GamblingCompliance is unable to point to specific reason
for these limits. However, for Spain’s limits it should
be noted that early drafts of the regulatory framework
which contained deposit limits for all the available online
gambling activities in the country were established as a
player protection measure.

11.6. Can a player request to increase that
deposit limit under certain circumstances
(wealthy, etc)
Belgium: Yes. The Royal Decree notified by Belgium to
the EU Commission on April 22, 2014 provides that the
F1+ licence holder may authorise a player for no-limits
gambling if the player requests in writing or via electronic
means to be exempted from the maximum betting limit.
The licence holder shall notify the Gaming Commission of
these requests.
The Gaming Commission shall respond within a week
following receipt of the request, regarding whether such a
request may be granted, based on any indication that the
player may be in difficulty with gambling.
Denmark: Yes. However, the Executive Orders on the
provision of betting and online casinos provide that a
player’s request for an increase of a previously fixed

37

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

deposit limit may not come into force until after 24 hours
have passed.
France: No express provisions contained in the Online
Gambling Act or secondary legislation.
Italy: Yes. Considering that there are not set limits
by regulation, players are free to set their own limits,
however, changes to the deposits are subject to certain
rules. In those cases where the change to deposit limits is
a request to increase the limit, these can only be effective
seven days after the request was made. Lower limits
however, must take effect immediately.
United Kingdom: Yes. The Remote Gambling and
Software Technical Standards at 12B requires that
customers set their own limits but these limits can only be
increased upon the customer’s request and this can only
be achieved after a “cooling-off period of 24 hours has
elapsed”.
Guidance on 12B states that:
“a. Increases should not be implemented until a coolingoff period of at least 24 hours from the point at which
GamblingCompliance Commentary
Spain: If a player wants to increase their deposit
limits under Spain’s regulations, operators can
grant this request only if the following conditions
are met (contained in Article 36(3) of Royal Decree
1614/2011):
“a) When it is the first request by a participant
to increase or remove any limits, the participant
must pass the gambling addiction and responsible
gaming tests established for that purpose by the
National Gaming Commission. After the tests are
passed the new limits will come into effect after
seven days.
b) In the case of the second or subsequent
request by the same participant to increase
limits, the operator must analyse the aspects of
the participant’s gaming records established by
the National Gaming Commission, which will
relate to their profile, their form of participation
in the games, and whether they show any sign of
addictive behaviour in relation to gaming. The new
limits will come into force three days after this
study returns a favourable result.
c) No increase in the limits established by the
participant may be requested if three months have
not elapsed since the last change to the selfimposed limits.”

b. Where possible (for instance, unless systems/
technical failures prevent it) limit reductions are to be
implemented within 24 hours of the request being
received.”

Additional question:
i) How does the Belgian gaming commission perform this
check? Could you specify the criteria?
GamblingCompliance is unable to provide any additional
insight at this time.

11.7. Can players set their own limits with regard
to the deposits during a certain time or up to a
certain amount?
Belgium: No express provisions contained in the online
gambling legislation.
Denmark: Yes. The Executive Orders on the provision
of betting and online casinos provide that the licensee
must make a function available to the player to set daily,
weekly and monthly (24 hours, 7 days and 30 days from
the time of registration) deposit limits. All three options
must be offered to the players, and it must be possible for
the individual player to set a nominal amount of his own
choice. When a player sets a limit, the limit needs to take
effect immediately, with any increase in an already existing
limit only to come into effect after 24 hours has elapsed
(Article 15 Executive Orders on the provision of betting;
Article 17 Executive Orders on the provision of online
casinos).
France: Yes. Players must set mandatory betting limit
within seven days of setting an account. If the player is
required to indicate betting limits, the operator cannot fix
these limits. The player sets the limits.
Italy: Yes. Players are required to also set deposit limits,
however, any increased in the limits must take effect only
after seven days has elapsed. Decreases in limits apply
immediately.
United Kingdom: Yes. The Remote Gambling and
Software Technical Standards stipulate that customers
must be able to set their own financial limits. Limits can
be in different forms, for example: “deposit limits: where
the amount a customer deposits into their account is
limited over a particular duration.” Increases should not be
implemented until a cooling-off period of at least 24 hours
has elapsed, decreases within 24 hours.

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Category 12. Policies specifically aimed at young
adults
12.1. Any policies with regard to remote games
of chance specifically aimed at young adults
(18-24)?

(18-24 years old) may be featured playing a significant
role only in marketing communications that appear in
a place where a bet can be placed directly through a
transactional facility, for instance, a gambling operator’s
own website. The individual may only be used to
illustrate specific betting selections where that individual
is the subject of the bet offered. The image or other
depiction used must show them in the context of the bet
and not in a gambling context.”

Belgium: Yes.
Denmark: No. No express provisions contained in the
online gambling legislation. In Denmark they do not
distinguish between young adults and adults over the age
of 24. According to paragraph 34 in the Act of gambling,
the gambling providers are not allowed to collect stakes
or let persons under the age of 18 to participate in any kind
of gambling.

GamblingCompliance Commentary
Estonia: Estonia has different age limits for certain
types of gambling. The age limits differ depending
on the type of gambling. As Article 34 of the
Gambling Act stipulates:

France: No. No express provisions contained in the Online
Gambling Act or secondary legislation.

“(2) A person under 21 years of age shall not play
a game of chance, a game of chance organised as
remote gambling or a game of skill organised as
remote gambling. It is also prohibited for a person
under 21 years of age to be present in a gaming
location for games of chance. A person under
21 years of age may only be present in a gaming
location for games of chance located on a ship
that is entered in the Estonian register of ships
and carries out passenger transport, if the highest
possible bet for obtaining the right to participate in
a game of chance on a gaming machine or gaming
table located there does not exceed €10 and the
biggest possible prize that can be won as a result
of a game of chance does not exceed €2,000. [RT
I, 25.04.2012, 1 – entry into force 01.06.2012]
(3) Persons under 18 years of age shall not play a
toto.
(4) Persons under 16 years of age shall not play a
lottery.”

Italy: No. No express provisions contained in the online
gambling legislation.
United Kingdom: Yes.

12.2. If, yes which?
Belgium: The Gaming Act states that all online games are
prohibited to players under 21 years old, except for betting
which is prohibited to players under 18 years old. Article 5
of the Royal Decree of June 21, 2011 requires that an online
licence applicant has to prove which systems to put in
place to stop to hinder socially vulnerable persons from
accessing the gambling website.
Denmark: France: Italy: United Kingdom: Code provisions 3 of the LCCP (which
are mainly social responsibility provisions in addition
to ordinary code provisions) provides for the protection
of children and vulnerable persons. The code provision
requires all licensees to comply with the advertising
codes.
The advertising code (CAP code) relevant to ‘Children and
Young Persons’, is CAP Code 16. Code 16.3.14 states that:
“[Marketing communications must not:] include a child
or a young person. No-one who is, or seems to be
under-25 years old may be featured gambling. No-one
may behave in an adolescent, juvenile or loutish way.
Individuals who are, or seem to be under 25 years old

the request to increase the limit was received. Where it
is practicable to do so, the customer should be required
to confirm that they still wish to increase the limit at the
end of the cooling-off period.

38

39

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Category 13. Regulations regarding storage and
disposal of player information
13.1. Any specific regulations with regard to
the storage of player information/data after a
player has unsubscribed from remote games of
chance with a licensee?

According to the Executive Orders licence holders have
to establish a special “data warehouse” (SAFE) to which
the Gambling Authority has to have access. SAFE is a file
server where the licence holder must store gambling data
for all games that are carried out at the licence holder.

Belgium: No. No express provisions contained in the
Gaming Act or the Royal Decrees, but some requirements
are in draft decrees notified to European Commission.

France: Yes. According to Article 10 of Decree n°2010-509
of May 18, 2010, the data shall be kept for a period of five
years. After this period, the operator removes the data. For
personal data given by each player, the five years period
shall run from the closing of the corresponding player
account. However, if no operation of gambling or betting
was carried out before the closure of the account, this data
is deleted once the account is closed.

Denmark: Yes.
France: Yes. According to Article 31 of the Online
Gambling Act, the gambling operator is required to store
in real time, on a physical medium located in France, all
the data defined in points 1 to 3 of Article 38 of the Online
Gambling Act. The data exchanged between the player
and the operator shall transit through this medium.
Amendments published in March 2014 further added that
these storage requirements will also apply to data related
to details of payment account as from July 1, 2015.
Italy: Yes.
United Kingdom: No. No express provisions contained
in the Gambling Act 2005 or the Remote Gambling and
Software Technical Standards, however, anti-money
laundering legislation would apply (Money Laundering
Regulations 2007).

13.2. Does a specific retention period for the
players’ data apply? If, yes how long is it?
Belgium: Yes. The Royal Decree notified by Belgium to the
European Commission on April 22, 2014 determines that
the online licence holder has to store some information
for three years.
Denmark: Yes. Chapter 3 of the Executive Orders on
the provision of betting and online casinos provides that
the licence holder shall store the identity and control
information concerning a registered player for at least
five years after the end of the customer relationship.
Documents and records relating to customer transactions
must be kept so that they can be found together for at
least five years after the transactions are made.
Section 28 of the Executive Orders on the provision of
betting and online casinos also requires the licence holder
to keep all data on the operation of the offering of betting/
the operation of online casinos in the gambling system for
at least five years.

Italy: Yes. Players data must be stored for 5 years after the
licence expiration date.
United Kingdom: Yes. UK online gambling operators
are subject to the Money Laundering Regulations 2007.
Section 19 of these regulations is on record keeping and
specified a time period of five years to keep records. The
section is extracted below in its entirety.
Record-keeping
19. (1) Subject to paragraph (4), a relevant person must
keep the records specified in paragraph (2) for at least the
period specified in paragraph (3).
(2) The records are—
(a) a copy of, or the references to, the evidence of the
customer’s identity obtained pursuant to regulation 7, 8,
10, 14 or 16(4);
(b)the supporting records (consisting of the original
documents or copies) in respect of a business
relationship or occasional transaction which is the
subject of customer due diligence measures or ongoing
monitoring.

GamblingCompliance Commentary
Third Anti-Money Laundering Directive: The Third
AML directive requires, in Article 30, entities which are
subject to it casinos, including online casinos) to keep
the following regarding record keeping and statistical
data.

the purposes of regulation 7, 10, 14 or 16(4) in relation to
any business relationship or occasional transaction.
(5) A person referred to in regulation 17(2)(a) or (b) who
is relied on by a relevant person must, if requested by
the person relying on him within the period referred to in
paragraph (4)—
(a) as soon as reasonably practicable make available
to the person who is relying on him any information
about the customer (and any beneficial owner) which
he obtained when applying customer due diligence
measures; and
(b) as soon as reasonably practicable forward to the
person who is relying on him copies of any identification
and verification data and other relevant documents on
the identity of the customer (and any beneficial owner)
which he obtained when applying those measures.

Article 30
“Member states shall require the institutions and
persons covered by this Directive to keep the
following documents and information for use in any
investigation into, or analysis of, possible money
laundering or terrorist financing by the FIU or by other
competent authorities in accordance with national
law:
(a) in the case of the customer due diligence, a
copy or the references of the evidence required,
for a period of at least five years after the business
relationship with their customer has ended;
(b) in the case of business relationships and
transactions, the supporting evidence and records,
consisting of the original documents or copies
admissible in court proceedings under the applicable
national legislation for a period of at least five years
following the carrying-out of the transactions or the
end of the business relationship.”

(6) A relevant person who relies on a person referred to in
regulation 17(2)(c) or (d) (a “third party”) to apply customer
due diligence measures must take steps to ensure that the
third party will, if requested by the relevant person within
the period referred to in paragraph (4)—
(a)as soon as reasonably practicable make available
to him any information about the customer (and any
beneficial owner) which the third party obtained when
applying customer due diligence measures; and
(b)as soon as reasonably practicable forward to him
copies of any identification and verification data and
other relevant documents on the identity of the customer
(and any beneficial owner) which the third party obtained
when applying those measures.

GamblingCompliance Commentary
Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive: At Article 39
of the draft Fourth AML directive (which will extend
AML requirements to all types of online gambling
services), the following are the record keeping and
statistical data requirements.
“Member states shall require obliged entities to
store the following documents and information in
accordance with national law for the purpose of the
prevention, detection and investigation of possible
money laundering or terrorist financing by the FIU or
by other competent authorities:

(7) Paragraphs (5) and (6) do not apply where a relevant
person applies customer due diligence measures by
means of an outsourcing service provider or agent.
(8) For the purposes of this regulation, a person relies
on another person where he does so in accordance with
regulation 17(1).

(a) in the case of the customer due diligence, a copy
or the references of the evidence required, for a
period of five years after the business relationship
with their customer has ended. Upon expiration of
this period, personal data shall be deleted unless
otherwise provided for by national law, which shall
determine under which circumstances obliged entities
may or shall further retain data. Member states may
allow or require further retention only if necessary for
the prevention, detection or investigation of money
laundering and terrorist financing. The maximum
retention period after the business relationship has
ended shall not exceed ten years;

Additional question:

(3) The period is five years beginning on—
(a) in the case of the records specified in paragraph (2)
(a), the date on which—
(i) the occasional transaction is completed; or
(ii) the business relationship ends; or
(b) in the case of the records specified in paragraph (2)
(b)—
(i) where the records relate to a particular transaction,
the date on which the transaction is completed;
(ii) for all other records, the date on which the business
relationship ends.

i) In Denmark, a licence holder must store a player’s
identity and control information for at least five years.
Does this also apply to information on a player’s individual
playing behaviour?

(4) A relevant person who is relied on by another person
must keep the records specified in paragraph (2)(a) for five
years beginning on the date on which he is relied on for

“Documents and records relating to customer
transactions must be kept so that they can be found
together for at least five years after the transactions are
made”.

40

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Denmark: All documents and transactions regarding
the player’s individual playing behaviour also have to
be stored for five years. Regarding information related
to player’s transactions, Chapter 3, Paragraph 2 of the
Executive Order No. 67 of 25 January 2012 on online
casinos states that:

(b) in the case of business relationships and
transactions, the supporting evidence and records,
consisting of the original documents or copies
admissible in court proceedings under the applicable
national legislation for a period of five years following

41

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

either the carrying-out of the transactions or the end
of the business relationship, whichever period is the
shortest. Upon expiration of this period, personal
data shall be deleted, unless otherwise provided for
by national law, which shall determine under which
circumstances obliged entities may or shall further
retain data. Member states may allow or require
further retention only if necessary for the prevention,
detection or investigation of money laundering and
terrorist financing. The maximum retention period
following either the carrying-out of the transactions or
the end of the business relationship, whichever period
ends first, shall not exceed ten years.

13.3. If yes, which of the players’ information/
data has to be stored?
Belgium: The Royal Decree notified by Belgium to the
European Commission on April 22, 2014 specifies that the
holder of a supplementary licence shall hold the following
records available to the Gaming Commission for three
years:

August 2014

»»

Further details are provided by secondary legislation
(Article 8 of decree n°2010-509)
Italy: All the available data, including the complete
gaming activity.
United Kingdom: The Money Laundering Regulations
2007 deem that the records consist of (at Section 19(2)):
(a) a copy of, or the references to, the evidence of the
customer’s identity obtained pursuant to regulation 7, 8,
10, 14 or 16(4);
(b) the supporting records (consisting of the original
documents or copies) in respect of a business relationship
or occasional transaction which is the subject of customer
due diligence measures or ongoing monitoring.

14.1. Is the licence applicant required to pay a
certain amount or to provide a bank guarantee
for assurance?

“Certain non-UK based operators will need to make
provision so that they have enforceable assets in the
UK (meaning assets that HMRC can enforce if the
operator fails in their tax obligations) and appoint
a representative in the UK. This is known as ‘the UK
substance requirement’.

Belgium: Yes. Section 71 of the Gaming Act provides that
inter alia A+, B+ and F1+ licence holders have to provide
a guarantee at least five days before the beginning of the
operation of online gambling. The fee is designed as a bail
to secure the payment of certain fees the licence holders
have to pay.

This requirement will not apply to operators who
register as a group or who have a principal place of
business in:
»»

Denmark: No. However, the Act on Gambling provides
that the licence applicant has to pay an application fee
and a licence fee. However, there is no express obligation
contained in the gambling legislation requiring the licence
applicant to provide a bank guarantee as assurance.

»»

Italy: Yes. Online gambling operators are required to
establish financial guarantees.

»»

United Kingdom: No. The Gambling Act 2005 does not
state any express provisions regarding the payment of
bank guarantees by licensees, however, under the new
point of consumption framework, some categories of
operators will require to provide forms of assurance they
will meet their taxation obligations. Generally however,
operators are required to pay:
»»
»»
»»

Denmark: According to the Executive Orders licence
holders in particular have to store the identity (name,
address and ID number) and information concerning a
registered player and documents and records relating
to the customer transactions and gambling data for all
games that are carried out at the respective licence holder,
the individual sessions and any significant events.

»»
»»
»»
»»

The identity of each player, address etc
The account of each player, including its opening date
and details of payment account
All gambling and betting events, associated
operations and other data involved in the formation of
the account balance of the player

An operator licence application fee
Operating licence annual fee
Personal management licence fees

paying a securing deposit; or
providing a bank guarantee; or
providing a performance bond; or
setting up a joint account with HMRC.

In HMRC guidance on the substance requirement, HMRC
notes that:

42

The UK or EU (for these purposes, the Channel
Islands, Isle of Man and Gibraltar are not considered
to be in either the UK or EU)
A country or state that is subject to the Mutual
Assistance in the Recovery of Debt (‘MARD’)
provisions. MARD refers to an arrangement with
certain countries which allows HMRC to ask for
help with various issues which includes the recovery
of a tax or duty debt. MARD arrangements are
reciprocal. MARD applies to a range of different
countries including Norway, Iceland, the Faroes,
New Zealand and South Africa
A country with which the UK has an appropriate
bilateral agreement. Where HMRC is satisfied that
an agreement provides assistance in the recovery of
debts relating to GBD, PBD and RGD, they will not
apply the UK substance requirement to gambling
operators with a principal place of business in that
state.”
GamblingCompliance Commentary:
Spain: In its first licensing window, Spanish operators
were required to pay two different licence guarantees:
»»
»»

As the UK moves to a point of consumption licensing
regime certain non-UK based operators will require to
meet the “UK substance requirement”. They can do this by
appointing a fiscal representative or appointing a security
and administrative representative at registration. If an
operator chooses to provide a security and administration
representative, the HM Revenue and Customs (HMRC)
need the security in the form of:

France: According to Article 38 of the Online Gambling
Act, the following players’ information/data has to be
stored:

»»

Category 14. Regulations regarding the payment of
bank guarantees by licensees

France: No. No express provisions contained in the Online
Gambling Act or secondary legislation. However, licence
fees applicable.

1. All random numbers generated and the subsequent
sequence of play;
2. All stakes, gains and game durations of all players;
3. All transfers to and from players’ accounts;
4. All complaints made by players;
5. All game application and game management error
messages;
6. All operating system and auxiliary application error
messages, particularly those associated with the database
engine and authentication;
7. All upgrades and updates both for applications and
operating systems;
8. All external and internal intrusion attempts;
9. All important security and encryption reports;
10. All bets placed.

»»
»»

Events related to the evolution and maintenance of
equipment, platforms and software used.

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

A fixed amount for general licences.
A percentage of the gross or net revenue for
singular licences, which are licences for individual
games. The quantum of the guarantee was
established in each of the games’ regulations.
The value of the guarantees therefore differed
according to each gaming operation.

In Spain, having the required guarantee is a licence
condition.

Additional question:
i) In the UK, providers must have a representative as
a financial guarantee. How does this provide financial
guarantee? Is the representative financially liable?

43

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

United Kingdom: The UK regime allows for the option of
a financial representative, however, one is not mandatory
(in reference to the ‘must’ in the question). The fiscal
representative is jointly and severally liable. Sanctions
include both criminal and civil penalties. HMRC guidance
on the Fiscal representative (fiscal rep) states that
(Gambling Tax Reform 2014 Information Note 3):
“An operator may appoint a fiscal rep in the UK. The
fiscal rep will be jointly and severally liable for amounts
due from the operator in respect of the tax for which
they are appointed.
Operators will need to seek prior approval from
HMRC before a person is appointed as a fiscal rep. The
approval process will primarily focus on establishing
that the fiscal rep can meet potential tax liabilities.
HMRC will not object to a fiscal rep solely on the
grounds that they are a related company in the UK.
HMRC will publish details of the approval process at a
later date. HMRC will deal with the approved fiscal rep
as though they are the taxpayer.”

14.2. If yes, in which amount (how is the amount
calculated?)
Belgium: According to Section 71 of the Gaming Act the
guarantee to be paid by:
»»
»»
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August 2014

Denmark: Yes. Pursuant to the licence application forms
a gambling business must be operated on an appropriate
financial basis. Therefore, when applying for a licence, a
licence applicant must enclose documentation that will
enable the Gambling Authority to assess the applicant’s
company’s financial position, etc. To this end the licence
applicant inter alia has to provide the financial statements
and its financing and funding plans.

Belgium: Yes. According to the Gaming Act and the
Royal Decree of June 21, 2011 the licence applicants for
online gambling licences have to provide an attestation
of creditworthiness (creditworthiness of 40 percent) and
financial power.

United Kingdom: No. No express provisions contained in
the Gambling Act 2005.

United Kingdom: Yes. The Gambling Act 2005 lists
in Section 70 ‘Consideration of application: general
principle’, some principles the Gambling Commission
should follow. Regarding financial robustness, the Section
states:
“For the purpose of subsection (1)(b) [that, is, shall
form and have regard to an opinion of the applicant’s
suitability to carry on the licensed activities,] the
Commission may, in particular, have regard to—
(a) the integrity of the applicant or of a person relevant
to the application;
(b) the competence of the applicant or of a person
relevant to the application to carry on the licensed
activities in a manner consistent with pursuit of the
licensing objectives;
(c) the financial and other circumstances of the applicant
or of a person relevant to the application (and, in
particular, the resources likely to be available for the
purpose of carrying on the licensed activities).”

France: No express provisions contained in the Online
Gambling Act or secondary legislation.

14.3. Any attestation of creditworthiness of the
licence applicant required?

Italy: No. No express provisions contained in the online
gambling legislation.

Italy: Yes. Pursuant to the licensing conditions established
by the Law 88/2009 (Legge Communitaria) Art 24 Par
15 (a) in order to apply for an online gambling licence,
operators are required to have been legally established
in one of the EEA states, with a reported turnover of at
least €1.5m in the previous reporting period to that of the
licence application. In those cases in which applicants
are not able to meet the conditions established above a
financial guarantee for duration of no less than two years
has to be established by the operator. The value of this
financial guarantee cannot be less than €1.5m.

Denmark: -

United Kingdom: The amount is not specified.

France: No. No express provisions contained in the Online
Gambling Act or secondary legislation.

France: No express provisions contained in the Online
Gambling Act or secondary legislation.

The A+ licence holder amounts to €250,000
The B+ licence holder amounts to €75,000
The F1+ licence holder amounts to €75,000.

Italy: Online gambling operators are required to establish
a temporary financial guarantee for €300,000 during
the licence application process. If a licence application
is successful, this guarantee is reduced to a minimum
of €100,000, however, the final value of this financial
guarantee (which must be maintained by the operator for
the duration of the licence) is subject to a sliding scale and
depends on the operator’s revenue.

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Moreover, evidence into the solvency in general and
financial reserves in particular of a licence applicant can be
sought by the Commission (according to Section 70(5)(d)
of the Gambling Act 2005).

14.4. Are there any specific requirements the
bank guarantee has to fulfil (certain date,
certain bank, etc)?
Belgium: No. No express provisions contained in the
Gaming Act or the Royal Decrees.
Denmark: -

44

45

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Category 15. Regulations on auto-play and
automatically logging off
15.1. What is the regulation with regard to autoplay?

»»

Belgium: No express provisions contained in the Gaming
Act or the Royal Decrees.

»»

Denmark: No express provisions contained in the
legislation. There is a requirement in the technical
standards on the duration between each game.
France: No express provisions contained in the Online
Gambling Act or secondary legislation.
Italy: No express provisions contained in the legislation.
However, Certification Guidelines Version 1.1 could permit
auto-play subject to requirement 2.6.1 on the correctness
of a game. This requires any automatic game functionality
to require the prior acceptance of the player.

As part of the technical standards, as ‘Information
provision annex (IPA) standards’. IPA 4is on the ‘Use of
automated gambling software’. This standard requires at
IPA 4A:
“Where operators use programs to participate in
gambling on their behalf in peer-to-peer gambling,
easily accessible information must be displayed, which
clearly informs customers that the operator uses this
kind of software.”
Implementation guidance for IPA 4A states that:

United Kingdom: Auto-play functionality is provided for
in RTS 8 and RTS9 of the Remote Gambling and Software
Technical Standards.

“a. Peer-to-peer(s) gambling operators that use software
to gamble on their behalf (for example, poker robots)
should display a notice to customers on the home pages
or screens and in the game description, ‘help’ or ‘how to
play/bet’ pages or screens.
b. As a minimum, restricted display devices should
provide a link to further information on gambling pages/
screens or in ‘help’, ‘about’ or ‘how to bet/play’ pages
or screens.”

RTS requirement 8A states:
“Auto-play must be implemented in such a way that
the customer is able to control the amount gambled
through selecting the stake and the number of auto-play
gambles. The number of auto-play gambles may not
exceed 25 in one batch.”

IPA 4B furthermore states:

The following is guidance for implementing the autoplay
requirement:
»»
»»
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“The customer should choose the stake and either the
number of autoplay gambles or the total amount to
be gambled.
During autoplay the customer should be able to
stop the autoplay regardless of how many auto-play
gambles they initially choose or how many remain.
Autoplay should not override any of the display
requirements (for example, the result of each gamble
must be displayed for a reasonable length of time
before the next gamble commences).”

“Where peer-to-peer(s) customers may be gambling
against programs deployed by other customers to play
on their behalf, information should be made available
that describes that this is possible, and if it is against the
operator’s terms and conditions to use robots, how to
report suspected robot use.”
Implementation guidance for IPA 4B states that:
a. The warning and information about how to complain
should be included in game descriptions, rules, terms
and conditions, ‘help’, ‘how to play’ or other general
product information pages.
b. The warning should also inform customers that if
they use a program to gamble on their behalf, other
customers may be able to exploit it.”

In relation to skill and chance games with autoplay, RTS 9
of the standards require:
“Strategy advice and auto-play functionality must be fair,
not misleading and must not represent a poor choice.”
In implementing this control, the following should be
considered where appropriate:

“If there is a standard strategy, for example, for wellknown games like blackjack, the standard strategy
should be used;
Strategies or auto-play should (theoretically) produce
at least the average Return to Player (RTP) for the
game over time.”

The aim of this standard (IPA 4) is to: “make customers
in peer-to-peer(s) gambling aware that they may be
gambling against a software program (designed to
automatically participate in gambling within certain

46

August 2014

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

parameters), rather than another (human) participant. This
software is sometimes referred to as a robot or bot.”

player to assess their gambling. Alongside these
measures we are also proposing to cap the number
of auto-plays permissible within a single batch to a
maximum of 100.”

GamblingCompliance Commentary
Changes to UK auto-play: The new point of
consumption regime is having an impact on autoplay under the technical standards. This is due to, as
the UK Gambling Commission notes, a “significant
difference in respect of the requirement on autoplay functionality between the Remote gambling
and software technical standards (RTS) and the
technical standards in other jurisdictions from where
operators can currently legally operate in the British
market.” The UK has suspended some of its auto-play
requirements and will be consulting on proposed
changes. The Gambling Commission has stated the
following on auto-play:
“Our requirements limit auto-play gambles to a
maximum of 25 in one batch. However, we are
aware that other jurisdictions either have higher
limits or no limits.
We have considered this position and as a result
we will not require compliance with the auto-play
requirement as set out in the RTS from the date
that licences are issued. Therefore operators
will not have to make changes to the auto-play
functionality of their games until further notice.
Our requirements around auto-play are intended
to ensure customers are still in control of their
gambling where this functionality is available.
Therefore whilst we will not require compliance
with RTS 8 at this time, we will still expect licence
holders to comply with the licence conditions and
codes of practice and RTS requirements that are
intended to protect customers from harm. This
means, an operator is expected to monitor the
play of their customers and if unusual or excessive
gambling activity occurred the operator should
take appropriate action.
We intend to consult on changes to RTS 8. The
consultation will consider whether changes to
the existing requirements should be made. The
changes considered during consultation could
include changes to the maximum number of autoplay gambles permitted and the introduction of
additional customer protection measures.”
This consultation was launched in August 2014, in
which the Gambling Commission has proposed:
“to require that players must set an auto-play
management control measure - at a minimum the
control on maximum loss limit - when using autoplay functionality. These controls will automatically
stop the auto-play if triggered and enable the

The following are player protection controls that
we propose will stop the auto-play functionality if
triggered:
»»
»»

loss limits, ie where the player selects an option
to not lose more than X where X is an amount
that can be selected by the player;
single win greater than Y where Y is an amount
that can be selected by the player; and jackpot
wins (where applicable).

15.2. What are the reasons for regulating autoplay?
Belgium: Denmark: France: Italy: To ensure that auto-play rules/implications are
perfectly known by players before using them. Ensure
that there is a clear way to stop auto-play once it has
been started. Ensure that using auto-play is always a
player’s decision and that it doesn’t start on its own
unexpectedly.
United Kingdom: For auto-play functionality, the reason
is to make sure that the customer “continues to be in
control of the gambling where auto-play functionality is
provided”. For skill and chance games with auto-play, the
reason is to “minimise the risk that auto-play functionality
disadvantages a customer or that auto-play or other
strategy advice is misleading”.

15.3. Are there specific regulations in other
countries with regard to automatically logging
off on the players account after a certain
period of inactivity?
Belgium: No. No express provisions contained in the
Gaming Act or the Royal Decrees.
Denmark: Yes. The Spillemyndigheden’s technical
standards require at 6.3 (‘Access Control’) the “gambling
system shall activate a screensaver or automatically log
the user out of the system upon inactivity for a longer
period of time.”
France: No. No express provisions contained in the
Online Gambling Act or secondary legislation.

47

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Category 16. Regulation on poker/liquidity

Italy: Yes. The Certification Guidelines Version 1.1 require,
at 2.2.8, the gambling platform to have an auto-log out
function for cases where the gambling account is inactive
for longer than 20 minutes.

16.1. Does national legislation allow for
international liquidity (network of players from
another country)?

United Kingdom: No. No express provisions contained in
the Gambling Act 2005 or in the Remote Gambling and
Software Technical Standards. However, the technical
standards do contain provisions on interrupted gambling
and time requirements however. For time requirements
the aim is to ensure that customers are aware of the time
they spend gambling. It is a requirement that “where the
gambling system uses full screen client applications that
obscure the clock on the customer’s device the client
application itself must display the time of the day or the
elapsed time since the application was started, wherever
practicable”. However, the time requirement does not
require an automatic log-off.

Belgium: Yes. International liquidity is permitted across
all sectors: however players must access the pool via a
.be website. The Royal Decree notified by Belgium to the
European Commission on April 22, 2014 confirms this
and further states that the holder of the online licence in
Belgium shall guarantee the honesty of the international
game.
Denmark: Yes (limited to poker and betting). The Guide
on Betting and Online Casino published by the Gambling
Authority refers to the concept of shared liquidity as
“network platform” being defined as “platforms used for
games in which players play against each other (peerto-peer games) and where exclusively such games are
facilitated. Customers are redirected via the licence holder
to a network platform, on which the customer may take
part in games against or with players from other gambling
operators and other countries.”

Additional question:
i) What duration of inactivity do the Danish consider to be
“a longer period of time”?
Denmark: Denmark has not specifically defined “a longer
period of time”. Instead, it expects testing organisations to
interpret these open-ended requirements in accordance
with best practice applicable at the time of the inspection
and set out their own specific time period.

Network platforms must not, in principle, have a licence to
operate gambling in Denmark if the licence holders who
use the platform have a licence. It is not a requirement
that all gambling operators linked to the network are
licence holders in Denmark. Customers from Denmark
must, however, always access the network via Danish
licence holders.
According to the explanatory notes to the Act on
Gambling, online poker providers should be able to offer
poker games, in which Danish players may play against
poker players from other countries in an open network,
to create a poker network with a large cash flow. Within
these networks, the games must comply with Danish
legislation, be supervised by the Gambling Authority, and
the provider must pay duty for the part of the stake that
relates to Danish clients.

Italy: No. However, the issue of international liquidity has
been addressed on several occasions by the gambling
authority which has approached other gambling European
regulators to discuss the possible implementation of
international liquidly for poker.
United Kingdom: Yes. The Gambling Commission, as part
of updates to the LCCP, consulted on pooling British and
non-British players, creating increased liquidity. This was
termed “peer to peer gaming”, with poker networks the
activity of interest. The Gambling Commission proposed
that it will “introduce a condition that would apply only to
B2B networks that provide peer-to-peer gaming (ie poker
networks). This condition would seek to mitigate the poker
network specific risks, in particular the risk that players
attempt to collude and cheat other participants in the
poker room and/or chip dump in order to launder money.”
Peer to peer gaming is subject to LCCP provision 3.1.1
(applies to remote casino licences) which stipulates that:
“licensees who provide facilities for peer to peer gaming
in circumstances in which they do not contract directly
with all of the players using those facilities (‘network
operators’) must have, put into effect and monitor the
effectiveness of, policies and procedures designed to
ensure that”, listing the following:
»»

»»

France: No. However, ARJEL has entered into discussions
with other gambling regulators which may result in
European liquidity in the future. The French regulator
has attended various meetings with gambling regulators
from Spain, Portugal, Germany, the UK and Italy, where
they have discussed, among other things, the question of
pooling poker liquidity. In a declaration from January 16,
2013, ARJEL also indicated its intention to open the market
to player pooling within the EU with a number of selected
jurisdictions with which agreements would be signed.
Although a change of the law would be needed to set up
shared liquidity with other EU member states, the first step
towards it has been achieved with the implementation of
cooperation agreements between the UK, Italy and Spain.

48

Domestic players (in Great Britain) needs to use
the facilities pursuant to a contract between the
player and the network operator; or pursuant to a
contract between the player and another Gambling
Commission licensed operator (holding a remote
casino licence).
Foreign players who participate in games with
domestic players, need to use the facilities pursuant
to a contract between that foreign player and
the network operator; or pursuant to a contract
between the foreign player and another Gambling
Commission licensed operator (holding a remote
casino licence). However, the foreign player can use
the facilities pursuant to a contract with an operator
not licensed by the Gambling Commission, if that nonGambling Commission licensed operator meets these
requirements:
»»
»»
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49

Holds the relevant authorisations in the jurisdiction
it is based or incorporated.
The network operator has approved the operator,
after due diligence has been completed into
individuals with financial interests in the operator.
The operator has appropriate policies and
procedures in place in relation to the identification
of players. These procedures need to meet, in
the network operator’s reasonable opinion, the
customer due diligence requirements set out in

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

the EU’s Third Money Laundering Directive, or
subsequent directives.

In early July 2013, these regulators met again in
Lisbon, joined by the German regulator and for the
first time, the UK Gambling Commission. Although
the meeting focused mainly on sharing information
and good practices concerning online gambling
regulation and promoting a wider and closer
cooperation among regulators, the participants also
considered the issue of international liquidity, ‘with
the view to identify and prepare the steps to be taken
in order to advance the process of sharing liquidity, in
a future date’. This issue will be considered in the next
regulators’ meeting, which is scheduled to take place
in Rome in the second half of 2013.

In addition to the above, arrangements between network
operators and Gambling Commission licensed operators
or non-Gambling Commission licensed operators, need
to be clear as to which operator is responsible for which
complaints by players, and have an understanding of how
a dispute between players in different jurisdictions will be
resolved.
Information sharing arrangements are also required to be
in place. These need to address and make sure that the
arrangements between network operators and Gambling
Commission licensed operators or non-Gambling
Commission licensed operators, are such that they enable
the following regulatory obligations to be discharged:
»»
»»
»»
»»

In France, in a declaration from January 16, 2013, ARJEL
recommended to open the market to player pooling
within the EU with a number of selected jurisdictions
with which agreements would be signed, in an effort
to create a more attractive legal offering.”

The prevention of money laundering and terrorist
financing and obligations under the Proceeds of Crime
Act.
Suspected cheating is investigated.
Problem gambling is prevented and combated.
Complaints by players are investigated.

GamblingCompliance Commentary 2
US emerging stance: In the US, where there has yet
to be a federal consensus on online gambling, three
states, Delaware, New Jersey and Nevada, have
passed legislation to allow internet gambling. As it
stands, each state has a right to allow or disallow
interstate compacts or shared liquidity agreements.

There is a similar licence condition (condition 3.1.2
applies to remote casino, bingo, betting intermediary
and pool betting licences) applicable to ‘other networks’,
which is relevant to licensees which provide gambling
facilities for gambling, other than peer to peer gaming,
in circumstances in which they do not contract directly
with all of the participants using those facilities (‘network
operators’).”

Denmark: Yes. The Guide on Betting and Online Casino
published by the Gambling Authority refers to the concept
of shared liquidity as “network platform” being defined as
“platforms used for games in which players play against
each other (peer-to-peer games) and where exclusively
such games are facilitated. Customers are redirected via
the licence holder to a network platform, on which the
customer may take part in games against or with players
from other gambling operators and other countries.”
Network platforms must not, in principle, have a licence to
operate gambling in Denmark if the licence holders who
use the platform have a licence. It is not a requirement
that all gambling operators linked to the network are
licence holders in Denmark. Customers from Denmark
must, however, always access the network via Danish
licence holders.
France: No. No express provisions contained in the Online
Gambling Act or secondary legislation.
Italy: No. Although there is a generic provision in the
national legislation that would allow this (by means of bior multi-lateral agreements with other EU jurisdictions), it
has not been implemented for online networks yet.
United Kingdom: Yes. However, all operators using the
network must be licensed by the Gambling Commission.

In February 2014, Delaware and Nevada became
the first two parties to join the Multi-State Internet
Gaming Agreement. The agreement allows
participating states to pool liquidity and players in an
attempt to strengthen their internet gaming offerings.
Currently, the agreement allows for poker only, but
the agreement was crafted to be very flexible, in
hopes of enticing other states to join.

GamblingCompliance Commentary 1
European trend: As noted above, international
liquidity is a discussion among certain EU regulators.
The following is comment from GamblingCompliance
in a publication from September 2013:

So far, New Jersey has not joined the agreement.
However, New Jersey’s regulations do allow for
the state to enter into reciprocal agreements for
interstate gaming.

“In the past year, however, a clear trend towards
authorising international liquidity has emerged in
Europe, although it has not materialised yet. It is
significant that the same four countries which have
expressly prohibited international liquidity have
held regular meetings since June 2012 in which the
question of authorising international liquidity has
been discussed.
The French online gambling regulator, ARJEL, along
with the Spanish, Italian and Portugal regulators
announced in June 2012 that they were in the
preliminary stage of discussions on international
liquidity matters. At the time, the Spanish DGOJ
stated that going in such a direction would be a
progress and “would clearly mean a significant
improvement in market conditions in our respective
countries”.

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

People within the US gambling industry speculate
whether larger states, like California, would want to
pool liquidity if they were to pass online gambling
regulation, or whether the state has a large enough
population to sustain a gambling network on its own.
In California, the most recent internet poker draft bill
expressly prohibited interstate agreements.

16.2. Does national legislation allow for
network liquidity (network of players coming
from different providers in the same country)?
Belgium: No. No express provisions contained in the
Gambling Act or the Royal Decrees.

50

51

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Category 17. Regulations on umbrella/organisational
licensing

Category 18. Which regulatory provisions are
applicable to bonuses?

17.1. Does national legislation provide for one
remote gaming licence for an entire group
of companies or a licence for each company
within the group?

Italy: One remote gaming licence is required for each
company.

18.1. Which regulatory provisions are applicable
to bonuses?

future. This move is intended to strengthen consumer
protection in this area.”

United Kingdom: The Gambling Commission has
published some non-exhaustive guidance on when a
company can operator under another company’s licence.
The Gambling Act 2005 does have a limited exception
from being liable for an offence (under Section 33 of the
Act) of providing (unlicensed) gambling facilities if: “(a)
he acts in the course of a business carried on by a person
who holds an operating licence authorising the activity,
and; (b) the activity is carried on in accordance with the
terms and conditions of the licence (Section 33(3) of the
Gambling Act 2005). Section 33 applies to gaming and
betting operators, with lotteries having a similar exception
in Section 258(3) of the Gambling Act 2005.

Belgium: No express provisions contained in the Gaming
Act or the Royal Decrees.

The project has shown that challenges remain in regards
to marketing, particularly in the marketing of bonus offers
on gambling providers’ own websites and banner ads. By
the end of 2013, 18 licence holders received a letter from
the Danish Gambling Authority regarding the marketing
of bonus offers. We expect to follow up on these in the
beginning of 2014.

Belgium: No express provisions contained in the Gaming
Act and the Royal Decrees. Section 4 of the Gaming Act
simply states that it is forbidden to operate a gambling
establishment or gambling in any form, in any place and
any direct or indirect way, without a licence previously
granted by the Gaming Commission pursuant to the
Gaming Act.
Denmark: No express provisions contained in the Act on
Gambling. Although the Act sets out the requirements that
an individual or company must meet to obtain a licence
to offer gambling services, it does not contain a precise
definition specifying what a licence holder is. The Guide
on Betting and Online Casino published by the Gambling
Authority clarifies that basically, all individuals and
companies offering betting and/or online casino services
must hold a licence. If a gambling operator has decided, in
reality, to offer the various games comprised by one brand
from several different companies, all the companies must
in principle hold a licence.
The licence holder is responsible for ensuring that the
operation of the games offered complies with Danish
legislation. The licence holder’s rights and obligations
include the following:
»»
»»
»»
»»
»»
»»
»»
»»
»»
»»

Responsibility, risk and managerial prerogative
relating to the operation of games
Contracting with players
Ownership of player data, including registration of
players
Player support
Ownership of intellectual property rights relating to
games
Ownership of website/game client
Operating the gambling system, including
maintenance of hardware
Owner or renter of the greater part of the gambling
system (gambling infrastructure)
Control of colluding etc., money laundering and
combat of the financing of terrorism
Payment transfer services and underpinning of
payment instruments.

The Gambling Commission has noted that it will “accept
that a company can come within the scope of this
exception and not be required to hold its own licence
providing that the company is truly acting in the course of
a business carried on by the licence holder”. The Gambling
Commission has provided some non-exhaustive principles
to offer some guidance as to whether a company can
come within the scope of another company’s operating
licence rather than requiring its own licence. These are:
»»

»»

»»
»»
»»

The company (seeking the Section 33(3) exception)
must be doing the licence holder’s work and if it
does the same work for other companies, it will be
considered to be acting in its own course of business
and therefore unable to claim to be working under the
protection of one licence holder’s licence
Company accounts would likely be consolidated with
the licence holder’s or the licence holder would be the
sole client of the company (seeking the Section 33(3)
exception)
The company would likely be a wholly owned
subsidiary of the licence holder
The licence holder retains the responsibility for
compliance (such as complying with the LCCP) and
making sure technical standards are met.
The licence holder controls the company through
clear governance arrangements.

The exception from Section 33 of the Gambling Act
however does not apply to gaming machine and gambling
software suppliers and manufacturers.

Denmark: Chapter 7 of the Executive Order on online
casinos concerns bonuses and provides that:
»»

»»
»»
»»

If a licence holder offers the player a bonus for
participating in a game, all the conditions shall
be explained in a clear, lucid manner within the
immediate context of the offer.
Payment of a bonus to the player shall occur
immediately when the conditions are satisfied.
In addition bonuses shall not be given to individual
players on terms that differ from deals given to other
players.
The player shall have at least 60 days to meet any
conditions associated with the payment of a bonus.

The Guide on Betting and Online Casino published by
the Gambling Authority also deals with bonuses and in
particular the marketing of bonuses.
According to the Guide on Betting and Online Casino it is
not possible to give a clear definition of what a ‘bonus’ is
as bonuses are offered in many different varieties with just
as many different conditions for payout. However, a bonus
typically represents an object, money or a service offered
to a (potential) player as consideration for an action taken
by the player. The consideration may involve registration
as a player on the website, depositing money into a
gambling account or recruiting other players.
The Guide on Betting and Online Casino explicitly allows
licensees to market their games by offering bonuses
to new and existing players. It is a requirement that the
actual marketing of the bonus is in accordance with
general consumer protection and marketing rules.
In its 2013 Annual Report the Danish Gambling Authority
noted an enforcement project on the marketing practices
of bonuses, as follows:
“we launched an enforcement project in 2013 focusing
on gambling operators’ compliance with the rules on
marketing of bonus offers.
The project’s aim was to follow up on whether licence
holders comply with the rules about marketing of bonus
offers, including the guidelines, thus ensuring that bonus
offers are being marketed clearly and precisely in the

France: No express provisions contained in the Online
Gambling Act or secondary legislation.

52

France: No express provisions contained in the Online
Gambling Act or in the secondary legislation.
Italy: There are two main provisions:
a) bonuses concur to the tax calculation (that is, taxwise they are treated just like cash), with the exception
of bonuses that have a wagering requirement, that gets
taxed only when the requirement is met and they become
“normal” bonuses.
b) a high degree of transparency towards the players is
required when a bonus is offered (for example, conditions,
wagering requirements, expiration date, etc.). All the
relevant information must be given to the player before
accepting the bonus and made available after that.
United Kingdom: Social responsibility code provision 5.1
(‘Rewards and bonuses’) of the LCCP (which is applicable
to all licensees) sets certain rules on rewards and
bonuses. This provision states that if a licensee makes
available to any customer or potential customer any
incentive or reward scheme or other arrangement under
which the customer may receive money, goods, services
or any other advantage (including the discharge in whole
or in part of any liability of his) (the benefit) the scheme
must be designed to operate, and be operated, in such a
way that:
»»

“The circumstances in which, and conditions subject
to which, the benefit is available are clearly set out
and readily accessible to the customers to whom it is
offered
»» Neither the receipt nor the value or amount of the
benefit is:
»» Dependent on the customer gambling for a predetermined length of time or with a pre-determined
frequency; or
»» Altered or increased if the qualifying activity or
spend is reached within a shorter time than the
whole period over which the benefit is offered.
»» If the value of the benefit increases with the amount
the customer spends it does so at a rate no greater

53

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

»»

than that at which the amount spent increases; and
further that:
If the benefit comprises free or subsidised travel or
accommodation which facilitates the customer’s
attendance at particular licensed premises the terms
on which it is offered are not directly related to the
level of the customer’s prospective gambling.”

August 2014

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

The Government’s response to this was the following:
“As outlined in the consultation document, the reform to
gambling taxation will be limited to changes to general
betting duty, pool betting duty and remote gaming duty.
In most areas the reform will not extend beyond the
changes necessary to ensure gambling by UK customers
is taxed on a place of consumption basis, although
some changes will be made to the administration of
the taxes. For example, the Government intends that a
quarterly accounting period will be adopted for the three
taxes, and that it will be mandatory for ROL holders to
register and file returns electronically.

Also, ordinary code provision 5.1.2 (‘Proportionate
rewards’) states that: “Licensees should only offer
incentive or reward schemes in which the benefit available
is proportionate to the type and level of customers’
gambling.”
Regarding taxation, currently the HMRC’s advises on
“promotional schemes such as rake - backs or matched
deposit schemes” is as follows:

The Government has not been persuaded that changes
to the tax treatment of “free plays” or bonuses are
appropriate at this time. As such, the Government
intends that the tax treatment of player promotions and
incentives such as bonuses and free plays for general
betting duty, pool betting duty and remote gaming
duty will remain unchanged from the current situation
for those taxes, as set out in relevant gambling duties
legislation.”

“It is widespread industry practice for operators to
offer incentives such as ‘matched deposit’ or ‘rake
back’ schemes. These are aimed at both attracting new
players to their sites and retaining existing players.
These schemes usually take the form of crediting
amounts to players’ accounts (bonuses) on condition,
for example, that players stake a set amount in play, or
deposit a certain amount in chip purchases.

Part Two
Land-based Casinos

Any stakes or payments for gaming made from a
player’s account are defined as remote gaming
receipts. It does not matter whether they come from
funds deposited by the player or bonuses credited to
the account by the operator. This may have the effect
of distorting the duty calculation. In order to remove
amounts credited to player accounts under ‘rake back’
and other incentive schemes from the duty calculation,
you should treat such amounts as winnings.
However you should be aware that HM Revenue &
Customs have the powers to disallow such credits
where this is considered necessary to counter possible
abuse of this provision.”
During a consultation on the UK’s taxation legislation
for remote gambling, published in August 2013, the
government noted that: “Many respondents had
comments on the scope of the reform. The most prevalent
of these regarded the tax treatment of marketing
costs, including bonuses and free-plays. A number of
respondents suggested that these player incentives
should be excluded entirely from all gambling taxes.
These respondents argued this would have the effect of
making the tax regimes more generous toward operators
and would encourage operators to offer promotions,
and could also help lessen the distortion in competition
between compliant and non-compliant operators.”

54

55

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Category 1. Legislation, supervision and general
licensing?

1.3. Are private operators able to be granted a
licence?

1.1. Main legislation containing provisions on
the casino market regulation.

Denmark: Yes. However, according to the Gambling
Authority’s homepage operators cannot apply for
land-based casino licences for the time being. In case a
currently issued licence becomes vacant the licence will
be advertised and put for tender.

Austria: The Glücksspielgesetz, the Austrian Gambling
Act, is the central piece of legislation on gambling in
Austria, providing the regulatory basis for the operation of
lotteries (including “electronic lotteries”), casinos, poker
as well as a framework regulation for slot machines which
are in detail governed by legislation at state level. The
Gambling Act provides for a gambling monopoly and
confers the right to issue licences to the Austrian Minister
of Finance.
For the latest tendering procedure of the land-based
casino licences the Minister of Finance published a
booklet clarifying the licensing requirements and further
determining the form, among others, in which the licence
applications have to be filed (the licensing booklet).
Denmark: The main gambling legislation concerning the
regulatory framework for land-based casinos is contained
in the Act on Gambling and the Executive Order on landbased casinos.
United Kingdom: The main gambling legislation
concerning the regulatory framework for land-based
casinos is contained in the Gambling Act 2005 which
introduced a licensing regime for new large (maximum
of 8) and small casinos (maximum of 8) (the government
decided not to go ahead with a third category of regional
casinos) to be licensed by local licensing authorities (local
councils). At the same time, the Gambling Act 2005 has
permitted the continued operation of casinos under the
Gaming Act 1968 licences.
Switzerland: The main legislation concerning the
regulatory framework for land-based casinos is contained
in the Federal Law of December 18, 1998 on Games
of Chance and Gaming Houses and in the Executive
Ordinance Of September 24, 2004 on Games of Chance
and Gaming Houses.
Canada: Casinos in Canada are regulated by each
province and, therefore, there is no federal uniform casino
legislation other than the exemptions in Part VII of the
Criminal Code. All provinces where casinos are present
have adopted specific casino legislation or have integrated
casino gaming into their general gambling acts. Provincial
governments derive their casino licensing authority from
1985 amendments to the Criminal Code of Canada which
permitted the installation of slot machines in venues
licensed by provincial gaming authorities. Dice games
were later authorized in 1999.

In Ontario, casino-style gambling is generally regulated
under the Gaming Control Act 1992, although various
gaming regulations also apply to the sector. In addition,
the Alcohol and Gaming Regulation and Public Protection
Act 1996 and the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
Act 1999 are also applicable. Under Section 3.8 of the
Gaming Control Act, the Registrar of the Alcohol and
Gaming Commission is authorized to establish standards
and requirements for the conduct, management and
operation of gaming sites.
GamblingCompliance Commentary
Note for Canada: since Canada consists of a federal
framework (with ten provinces and three territories),
GamblingCompliance has included pertinent
examples from the larger provinces such as Ontario
and Quebec among others) for this research.

1.2. Regulation of land-based casino market
(licences or monopoly)
Austria: Licences.
Denmark: Licences.
United Kingdom: Licences.
Switzerland: Licences.
Canada: Differs by province, but in general, provinces
must conduct and manage commercial gaming
establishments. The casinos operate as state monopolies
that may be operated by private entities in certain
provinces.
In Ontario, The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of
Ontario (AGCO) regulates casino-style gambling in
Ontario. The AGCO was established on February 23,
1998, under the Alcohol and Gaming Regulation and
Public Protection Act 1996. All gaming is conducted and
managed through the government business enterprise,
the Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation (OLG).
In short, the AGCO regulates the OLG. Although itself
an operator, the OLG has supervisory functions in its
oversight of private suppliers.
Casinos in Quebec are operated by the Regie des Alcools
des Courses et des Jeux (RACJ). All casinos are operated by
Loto-Quebec, a state-owned corporation. This is different
than most other national lottery operators in Canada, as
it does not only run draws but also controls the operation
of four casinos, and owns the province’s video lottery
terminals (VLTs).

56

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Austria: Yes.

United Kingdom: Yes.
Switzerland: Yes.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, while not granted
a “license,” persons can be registered as operators of a
gaming site. Although casinos are operated under the
umbrella of the OLG, private management agreements
are in place with operators to manage the day-today operations of the casino. The gaming equipment,
however, remains the property of the OLG. In Quebec, the
Loto-Quebec controls and manages all gaming at casinos.

Additional question:
i) In Ontario, private management agreements are in
place. Is this similar to a franchise construction?
Canada: The Ontario Lottery and Gaming Corporation
(OLG) does operate some casinos in the province.
However, under private management agreements, dayto-day operations of certain gaming sites are handed
over to private-sector operators. In return, the privatesector operators pay taxes to Ontario and the local host
communities. This is not franchise construction per se, as
it occurs in the fast food industry, however, it is the state
leveraging the expertise and skills of private managers
to run day-to-day operations while maintaining overall
control of the right to offer gaming to residents in Ontario.
A more apt term for this would be a public-private
partnership than franchise construction.

1.4. Has there been a public tender for the landbased casino licence?
Austria: Yes.

For Ontario, yes. Ontario is currently undergoing a
modernization plan across the province for its gaming
industry. Information can be found at: http://www.
modernolg.ca/procurement-process/.

Additional questions:
i) The first 12 licenses (‘city’ and ‘country’) were granted to
Casino Austria. Is this still considered to be a competitive
market, or is it another method of achieving a monopoly?
Could Casino Austria also obtain the remaining three
licenses?
Austria: It could be argued that the market is still
competitive as there is a possibility that a company
other than Casinos Austria can receive a licence. Recent
developments supports this case - at the end of June,
the three remaining casino licence winning tenders
were announced with none of these licences being
awarded to Casinos Austria. Regarding these new
licence winning tenders, two casinos will be opened in
Vienna, one by Novomatic and one by the joint venture
of the Gauselmann Group and Stadtcasino Baden AG.
Novomatic is permitted to open a further casino in Lower
Austria, having won the third tender.
ii) Denmark: it states that a public tender was held for at
least 4 licences. In 1.8) it states that in Denmark there is
a total of 7 licences (as it states that if 1 out of 7 licences
becomes vacant it will be put up for tender). This raises the
question how the remaining 3 licences were granted?
Denmark: Further information has been added to answer
1.5 below.

1.5. If yes, when?
Austria: The Gambling Act provides for 15 land-based
casino licences which are valid for 15 years. The Minister
of Finance decided to offer 12 out of the 15 casino licences
in two packages of six licences each (the so-called
“city package” and “country package”) and three single
licences:
»»
»»

Denmark: Yes.
United Kingdom: Yes.

»»

Switzerland: Yes.
Canada: Differs by province. In some jurisdictions there
have been public tenders, and in others there have not
been public tenders.

57

The six licences from the city package were granted
in December 2012 to the Casinos Austria AG and are
effective as of 1 January 1, 2013.
The six licences from the country package were
granted in October 2013 and will take effect as of 1
January 1, 2016 and have been granted to the Casino
Austria AG, too.
The tendering process for the three single licences
started in November 2012 and licence applications
had to be filed by June 2013. The results of these
three remaining tenders were announced on June 27,
2014. Two licences have been granted to Novomatic
and one licence to the joint venture of the German
Gauselmann Group and the Swiss Stadtcasino Baden

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

AG. However, Casinos Austria has challenged the
casino licence decisions with a complaint submitted to
the Ministry of Finance in July 2014.
Denmark: As outlined in the 2013 Danish Gambling
Authority Annual Report: “The Danish Gambling Authority
issues licences to operate land-based casinos while the
Danish government determines the precise number of
licences that may be issued. Licences have currently been
issued for seven land-based casinos in Denmark, six being
geographically located in the Zealand, Funen and Jutland
regions while one licence has been issued to the DFDS
Oslo ferry ‘Pearl Seaways’.
The latest tendering procedure was held in 2010 and 4
licences were issued in November 2010. In addition to this,
a in 2010, “a preliminary licence was granted to operate
an additional casino in Copenhagen and a casino in
Esbjerg as well as a casino on board the Oslo ferry ‘Crown
of Scandinavia’” as outlined in the Danish Gambling
Authority’s Annual Report 2012. These two preliminary
licences were not used in 2013, with no licences put to
tender during 2013 according to the Danish Gambling
Authority’s 2013 Annual Report published during March
2014.

August 2014

in December 2011 (the Aspers casino near the London
Olympics venue and large shopping mall of Westfield
Stratford), with the second in Milton Keynes during
September 2013. Other casinos are in development
(tenders completed by no casino development breaking
ground to date) with four tenders yet to start. Tenders are
run by local authorities.
Switzerland: The first casino tender process was opened
after the entry into force of the federal Law on Games of
Chance and Gaming Houses on April 1, 2000 and by 2003,
21 casino concessions had been awarded. (Two of the
licences have since been revoked). In September 2012 the
Federal Council issued two further casino licences. A Class
A licence in Zurich to Swiss Casinos and a Class B licence
in the region of Neuchâtel to FBAM Neuchâtel SA.
Canada: Differs by jurisdiction. The OLG issued Requests
for Pre-Qualification (RFPQs) for six gaming bundles in
2013. Only one of the bundles has been advanced to the
next phase of the procurement process, when it issued a
Request for Proposal (RFP) for the East Gaming Bundle.
Additionally, the OLG is looking to issue a Request for
Information (RFI) for a “potential privately-funded, multipurpose entertainment centre in Niagara Falls.

United Kingdom: Under the Gambling Act 2005,
applications for casino premises licences (under Section
175) are subject to a schedule to the Act (Schedule
9) which requires the licensing authority to before
“considering an application to which this Schedule applies
a licensing authority shall comply with regulations of the
Secretary of State about inviting competing applications”
(Schedule 9 Section 2 ‘Competition for licences’).

Additional question:

According to the UK Parliament’s study: “The Gambling
Act 2005: A Bet Worth Taking?” (2012) conducted by the
Culture, Media and Sport Committee: “Sixteen local
authorities were granted permission by the Casino
Advisory Panel to host a new Small or Large Casino.
Sixty-eight local authorities originally applied in 2006 for
permission to have either a new Small or Large Casino.”

ii) Denmark: it states that a public tender was held for at
least 4 licences. In 1.8) it states that in Denmark there is
a total of 7 licences (as it states that if 1 out of 7 licences
becomes vacant it will be put up for tender). This raises the
question how the remaining 3 licences were granted?

Some tender competitions have been completed with
others outstanding. The local authorities selected for large
casinos were: Great Yarmouth Borough Council; Kingston
upon Hull City Council; Leeds City Council; Middlesbrough
Borough Council; Milton Keynes Borough Council;
Newham London Borough Council; Solihull Metropolitan
Borough Council; and Southampton City Council. The
local authorities selected for small casinos were: Bath and
North East Somerset District Council ; East Lindsey District
Council; Luton Borough Council; Scarborough Borough
Council; Swansea City and County Council; Torbay
Borough Council; Wigtown, Dumfries and Galloway
Council; and Wolverhampton City Council.
The UK’s first large casino under the Gambling Act 2005
opened was opened in London Borough of Newham

i) When will the remaining three Austrian licenses be
tendered? Or is this yet unknown?
Austria: The information in the Austrian answer above
has been updated to reflect the latest developments and
winning tender announcements from late June 2014.

Denmark: All seven casino licences in Denmark have
been awarded by tender offered by the Danish Ministry of
Justice

1.6. Licensing authority
Austria: The Austrian Minister of Finance.
Denmark: Licence applications have to be filed with the
Gambling Authority which is under the organisation of the
Minister of Taxation. According to Section 4 of the Act on
Gambling the Minister of Taxation or whomever the latter
authorises, shall be the regulatory authority. The Minister
of Taxation authorised the Gambling Authority. Therefore
the latter is the licensing and supervisory authority in
Denmark.

58

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

United Kingdom: The UK Gambling Commission issues
operating licences, personal management licences and
personal functional licences. Local authorities (councils)
on the other hand, are responsible for the issuance of
premises licences.

Corporation (OLG), meaning AGCO regulates the OLG.
Although itself an operator, the OLG has supervisory
functions in its oversight of private suppliers.

Switzerland: The federal government issues licences
after a vetting procedure undertaken by the Federal
Gaming Board.

Austria: 15

Canada: The Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario
(AGCO) regulates casino-style gambling in Ontario,
including registering.

1.7. Supervisory authority
Austria: The Austrian Minister of Finance.
Denmark: According to Section 4 of the Act on Gambling
the Minister of Taxation or whomever the latter
authorises, shall be the regulatory authority. The Minister
of Taxation authorised the Gambling Authority. The Danish
Gambling Authority has been given the remit to supervise
and inspect casinos. On supervision, the Danish Gambling
Authority noted in its 2012 Annual Report that:
“Our casino supervision is carried out by a Danish
Gambling Authority employee who is present during the
casino’s opening hours. The land-based casinos must
cover the expenses relating to casino supervision.
As a result of the new gambling legislation, we have taken
over the police task of approving persons wishing to work
in a land-based casino. In 2012, we approved about 50
people and rejected a handful.”
Similarly, in its 2013 Annual Report the Danish Gambling
Authority noted:
“An employee from the Danish Gambling Authority is
present during the casino’s full opening hours, having
supervisory responsibilities that include ensuring that
the counting of the casino’s cash, chips and cards
complies with the rules applying.
In 2013 we continued working on a project launched in
2012 designed to assess the current supervision of the
land-based casinos. The main focus of the project is to
explore whether future casino supervision can be more
expediently organised in terms of use of resources and
technological advances in the field. The project will
continue in 2014.”
United Kingdom: The UK Gambling Commission.
Switzerland: The Federal Gaming Board.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, all gaming
is conducted and managed through the government
business enterprise, the Ontario Lottery and Gaming

1.8. Number of available licences

Denmark: The Act on Gambling and the Executive Order
on land-based casinos do not contain a numerus clausus
on available land-based casino licences. However on the
Gambling Authority’s homepage the latter announces
that operators currently do not have the possibility to
apply for a land-based casino licence. Only if one out
of the seven currently issued licences becomes vacant
the licence will be put for tender. On the homepage,
the Gambling Authority further states that the Minister
of Taxation determines the exact number of licences,
which corresponds with the information in the Danish
Gambling Authority’s Annual Report 2013, which states:
“[the] Danish Gambling Authority issues licences to
operate land-based casinos while the Danish government
determines the precise number of licences that may be
issued”.
United Kingdom: The Gambling Act 2005 does not
set a limit on the number of land-based casino licences
currently available (including those issued under previous
legislation). However, in relation to casino premises
licences and new casinos, the 2005 Act sets a limit under
section 175 and provides that “no more than one casino
premises licence may have effect at any time in respect
of regional casinos”, that “no more than eight casino
premises licences may have effect at any time in respect
of large casinos” and with regards to small casinos, “no
more than eight casino premises licences may have effect
at any time”. As noted above, the government opted not
to pursue regional casinos.
Switzerland: Not specified in the legislation. According
to the Federal Gaming Board, the Federal Council (the
government in Switzerland) decides on how many licences
for casinos will be granted in Switzerland. In Switzerland
there are currently 21 casinos.
Canada: Differs by province.

1.9. Number of licences granted
Austria: 12, the tendering process for the remaining three
licences is still pending. Licences are expected to be
issued in summer 2014.
Denmark: There are currently six casinos in Denmark and
one licensed on-board ship casino. Therefore the overall
number of issued land-based casino licences is seven.
United Kingdom: The Gambling Commission notes that

59

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

there were over 140 casino premises in operation when the
Gambling Act 2005 entered into force during September
2007. These licences were issued under the Gaming Act
1968. The Gambling Act 2005 made available 8 large
casino licences and 8 small casino licences (with the one
regional casino licence, not pursued by government).
Commercially, two casino groups, Genting UK and Rank
Group hold the majority of UK casino licences.
Switzerland: There are currently 21 licences. Licences are
divided into Class A and Class B licences. Eight Class A
licences (mainly in urban areas) and 13 Class B licences (in
resorts or smaller communities) have been granted.

August 2014

However, the Act provides under Section 111, that the
Gambling Commission has the right to “determine that
operating licences, or a specified class of operating
licences, shall cease to have effect at the end of a specified
period”.
Switzerland: Licences are granted for a period of 20
years. Under exceptional circumstances licences can be
granted for a shorter or longer period. Licences can be
extended or renewed.
Canada: Differs by province. Registration must be
renewed annually in Ontario.

Canada: Differs by province. This ranges from a few to
over 20 depending on the province.

1.11. Any definition of the term “casino games” in
the national legislation?

Additional question:

Austria: No. The Gambling Act does not contain an
exhaustive list of games which a casino licensee may/
has to offer in its casinos. However, the games typically
referred to as casino games, such as black jack, two aces,
roulette, baccarat and poker fall within the scope of
application of the Gambling Act. In addition, slot machines
located in casino premises are covered by the casino
licence.

i) Canada: the number of licences granted differ per
province (from a few to over 20 licences). What is the basis
(what are the criteria) for granting either a few or over 20
licences?
Canada: This is a policy decision at the provincial level,
so therefore many factors, both local and farther afield
could be involved. The reasons could involve a balance
between having provinces operate as many gaming sites
as they can effectively regulate to satisfy demand for
gambling in a legal, regulated environment on the one
hand; with protection of players, minors and vulnerable
on the other. Canada has a strong nationwide focus on
problem and responsible gambling, and therefore these
factors would be prominent in policy making. Looking
at past experiences as an example for granting licences,
in Ontario a referendum used to be required in order to
establish a gaming site. This regulation has now changed
- now establishing a gaming site requires municipal
authority approval.
Moreover, for Ontario, GamblingCompliance was told
that the carved exception to gambling being illegal is
that it is conducted and managed by Government and
for charitable purposes. The Ontario Lottery and Gaming
Corporation sets the limits on the amount of sites
operating and increases and deceases that number as the
market allows.

1.10. Duration of licence
Austria: 15 years.
Denmark: Section 14 of the Act on Gambling determines
that the licences may be granted for a period of up to ten
years.
United Kingdom: The Gambling Act 2005 does not
specifically indicate the duration for the casino licences.

and Gaming Houses, Article 7, provides that “the casino
is a company that offers the opportunity to gamble on a
commercial basis”.

“[G]ame or any proposal, scheme, plan, means, device,
contrivance or operation described in any of paragraphs
206(1)(a) to (g), whether or not it involves betting, pool
selling or a pool system of betting other than
(a) a three-card monte, punch board or coin table;
(b)bookmaking, pool selling or the making or recording
of bets, including bets made through the agency of a
pool or pari-mutuel system, on any race or fight, or on a
single sport event or athletic contest; or
(c)for the purposes of paragraphs (1)(b) to (f), a game or
proposal, scheme, plan, means, device, contrivance or
operation described in any of paragraphs 206(1)(a) to (g)
that is operated on or through a computer, video device
or slot machine, within the meaning of subsection
198(3), or a dice game.”

1.12. In particular, is poker considered a casino
game?

Importantly, according to Section 14(10 of the Act on
Gambling: “14(1). A licence may be granted for the
establishment and operation of land-based casinos.
Land-based casinos may provide roulette, baccarat,
punto banco, blackjack, poker and gambling on gaming
machines offering cash winnings.”

Switzerland: Yes. The Executive Ordinance on Games of
Chance and Gaming Houses, Article 51, permits casinos
to offer gambling tournaments. In addition, in 2010, the
Supreme Court of Switzerland ruled Texas Hold’em
poker tournaments as games of chance. Casinos hold the
monopoly over the organisation of poker tournaments.

United Kingdom: Yes. The Gambling Act 2005, Section 7,
provides that “a casino is an arrangement whereby people
are given an opportunity to participate in one or more
casino games”. Section 7(2) further stipulates that “casino
game” is a game of chance which is not equal chance
gaming (the Gambling Commission notes that poker is
considered an equal game of chance and these are usually
also made available in casinos in addition to gaming
machines).

Canada: Differs by province. Ontario -- poker is considered
a lottery scheme.

60

“[G]ame or any proposal, scheme, plan, means, device,
contrivance or operation described in any of paragraphs
206(1)(a) to (g), whether or not it involves betting, pool
selling or a pool system of betting other than:
(a) a three-card monte, punch board or coin table;
(b)bookmaking, pool selling or the making or recording
of bets, including bets made through the agency of a
pool or pari-mutuel system, on any race or fight, or on a
single sport event or athletic contest; or
(c)for the purposes of paragraphs (1)(b) to (f), a game or
proposal, scheme, plan, means, device, contrivance or
operation described in any of paragraphs 206(1)(a) to (g)
that is operated on or through a computer, video device
or slot machine, within the meaning of subsection
198(3), or a dice game.”

Canada: No. However, section 207(1)(a) of the Criminal
Code authorizes provinces, either alone or in conjunction
with one another, to “conduct and manage a lottery
scheme.” Under Section 207(4) a “lottery scheme”
consists of a:

Denmark: No. There is no express definition of the
term “casino games”. However, Section 5 of the Act on
Gambling inter alia defines the terms lottery, combination
games and betting. According to the Act on Gambling the
term “gambling” covers lottery, combination games and
betting. The explanatory notes to the Act on Gambling
clarify that the definition of combination games covers a
number of different types of games, e.g. rubber-bridge,
poker, backgammon, whist and guessing competitions
(where the competition is decided by a draw). Land-based
gambling is defined as “gambling activities where a player
is meeting physically with a gambling provider or the
gambling provider’s distributor.”

Switzerland: Yes. The Federal Law on Games of Chance

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Austria: Yes.
Denmark: Yes. According to Section 14(1) of the Act on
Gambling, land-based casinos are inter alia allowed to
offer poker.
United Kingdom: Yes. Poker can be played in casinos.
Casinos can also run poker tournaments at temporary
venues, for a specified amount of time, using temporary
notices.

ii) In Canada, poker is a lottery scheme but can it be
offered in casinos?
Yes, this is due to the definition of a lottery scheme in
Canadian law. In simple terms, a lottery scheme may be
defined as any scheme which has the following three
components:
»»
»»
»»

A prize
A chance (to win the prize)
Consideration or a fee.

Therefore, a lottery scheme exists if money is paid or
some other consideration is given for a chance to win a
prize.

1.13. Are there different categories of casino
games? If, yes which?
Austria: Yes. The games typically referred to as casino
games, such as black jack, two aces, roulette, baccarat and
poker fall within the scope of application of the Gambling
Act. In addition, slot machines located in casino premises
are covered by the casino licence.
Denmark: Yes. According to Section 14(1) of the Act
on Gambling, casinos may offer the following games:
roulette, baccarat, punto banco, black jack, poker and
gaming machines offering cash winnings.

i) Why is poker considered a lottery scheme in Ontario,
Canada?

United Kingdom: Yes. Casinos offer games such as
American roulette, punto banco (baccarat), blackjack,
poker in addition to gaming machines is also available.
Some casinos may also offer electronic games and games
of equal chance. According to the Gambling Act 2005,
large casinos are permitted to offer betting and bingo
facilities. Small casinos are also allowed to offer betting.

Canada: Poker is considered a lottery scheme as the
definition is broadly defined in Section 207(4) of the
Criminal Code, a “lottery scheme” consists of a:

Switzerland: Yes. The law makes a distinction between
casino games by dividing them into two types: games of
skill and games of chance.

Additional question:

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

Canada: Differs by province. Ontario -- no.

1.14. Are there specific licences for each
category of casino games or simply a general
casino games licence?
Austria: There is simply a general casino licence (15 such
licences for land-based casinos and three licences for
land-based poker halls.
Denmark: The Danish gambling legislation provides for
general land-based casino licences. However, according
to Section 14(3) of the Act on Gambling land-based casino
licences may be limited to one or more types of gambling
activities.
United Kingdom: The Gambling Act 2005 provides for
general land-based casino licences (such as operating,
premises licences).
Switzerland: There are Class A and Class B licences.
Class A licences are for the operation of table games and
gambling machines. The Class A licence also entitles its
holder to link the games in the casino or among casinos,
especially for the formation of jackpots.
Class B licences are for the operation of a maximum three
table games as well as gambling on gambling machines
with low loss and winnings potential. The number of
gaming machines is limited to 250 in one Class B casino,
the Federal Gaming Board can exceptionally, however,
give permission for more machines. According to the
Executive Ordinance on Games of Chance and Gaming
Houses the linking of games is prohibited in class B
casinos.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, the Gaming
Control Act lays out three different types of registrants:
operators, gaming-related supplier and non-gaming
related supplier. Any individual who “manufactures,
provides, installs, tests, maintains or repairs gaming
equipment or who provides consulting or similar services
directly related to playing of a lottery scheme or the
operation of a gaming site” must be registered as a
gaming-related supplier.

1.15. Requirement for casinos to offer all casino
games within a category provided for by law (in
particular table games and slots)?
Austria: No. However, Article 21(7) of the Gambling Act
only states that the casino licensee is required to offer
“Lebendspiele”, being interpreted by Austrian courts as
games in which the casino staff is involved in the game
process (like black jack and roulette). The Austrian Ministry
of Finance understands that this provision means that
a licensee must not only offer gaming machines in its
premises but has to offer other casino games as well.

August 2014

Denmark: No express provisions contained in the Act on
Gambling and the Executive Order on land-based casinos.
United Kingdom: No. Section 7 of the Gambling Act 2005
provides that a casino “is an arrangement whereby people
are given an opportunity to participate in one or more
casino games.” Therefore the offering of a simply one
casino game would be required.
Switzerland: Yes. Article 11 (2) of the Executive Ordinance
on Games of Chance and Gaming Houses stipulates that
an operating permit can only be granted if the proportion
between the number of gambling tables and the number
of machines equals or exceeds 1:25. From this provision
follows that both table games and gaming machines are
required to be operated.
Canada: Differs by province. Not specifically addressed by
regulations/laws in Ontario.

1.16. If yes, is there any minimum or maximum
requirement for casinos to offer a certain
variety of games within a certain category (for
example a casino has to operate at least five
and a maximum of ten slot machines, etc)?
Austria: No express provisions contained in the Gambling
Act. However, in the licensing booklet the Minister of
Finance clarified that there should not be an excessive
concentration of gambling in one location. To this end the
Minister of Finance considers that more than 500 gaming
machines per location are too much.
Denmark: No express provisions contained in the Act on
Gambling and the Executive Order on land-based casinos.
United Kingdom: Yes. The Gambling Act 2005 introduced
a ratio between gambling machines and gaming tables.
According to the Gambling Act 2005, for an operator
to run a small casino, there is a ratio of 2:1 regarding
number of gaming machines to gaming tables. That is, the
number of gaming machines cannot be more than twice
the number of gaming tables, with an operator allowed
a maximum of 80 gaming machines from category B1 to
D (excluding category B3A) (Section 72(5)). In relation to
large casinos, there is a ratio of 5:1 regarding the number
of gaming machines to gaming tables. That is, the number
of gaming machines cannot be more than five times the
number of gaming tables, with an operator allowed a
maximum of 150 gaming machines from category B1 to
D (excluding category B3A) (Section 72(4)). Similar ratios
applied to a regional casino however, these casinos have
not been implemented.
Further, small casinos require a minimum table gaming
area of 500 square metres is required as well as a

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

minimum non-gambling area of 250 square metres (for a
total customer area of 750 square metres); and for large
casinos the minimum table gaming area should be 1,000
square metres with at least 500 square metres nongambling area (for a total customer area of 1500 square
metres).

at 150 machines should apply to both Small and Large
Casinos.
The Act has created a situation where the Small Casino
model is not considered financially viable. This is partly
because a Small Casino must possess a larger floor-area
for table play than a Large Casino in order to maximise
its machine allowance. We note that not one Small
Casino has been developed. It was not Parliament’s
intention in 2005 to make Small Casinos completely
unviable. Given the fact that all casinos are highly
regulated and access is limited regardless of the size,
we see no rationale for the different gaming machine
allowance. As 5:1 is the ratio presently in the legislation,
we recommend that the Government introduce a single
ratio of five machines to one table for both Small and
Large Casinos. Local authorities should have the power
to increase the number of machines permitted per table
if they wish to do so and an operator requests it.” (at
paragraph 168-169)

Switzerland: Yes. Class B casinos are only allowed
to offer at most three table games and the number of
gaming machines is limited to 250 in a Class B casino. The
Federal Gaming Board can exceptionally, however, give
permission for more machines in Class B casinos. Article
11 (2) of the Executive Ordinance on Games of Chance and
Gaming Houses stipulates that an operating permit for
both Class A and Class B casinos can only be granted if
the proportion between the number of gambling tables
and the number of machines equals or exceeds 1:25.
Canada: Differs by province. No express provisions
contained in the regulations/laws in Ontario.

1.17. If yes, what are the reasons for setting
these requirements?
Austria: According to the licensing booklet the Minister
of Finance wants to avoid excessive concentration of
gambling in one location.
Denmark: United Kingdom: No express provisions contained in the
Gambling Act. However, according to the UK Parliament’s
study: “The Gambling Act 2005: A Bet Worth Taking?”
(2012) “There were two reasons for linking machine
numbers to tables. One was that it would encourage
punters to take a break from machine play and turn to
table play, which is less intensive. It was also thought that
forcing Small Casinos to have a large floor space would
prevent their proliferation on the high street. Providing
tables to break up machine-based play assumes, however,
that the same people will play on tables and machines,
which may not be the case. Furthermore, we have seen
no evidence that the ratio of tables to machines was
developed on the basis of sound evidence. John Penrose
MP, Minister for Tourism and Heritage, told us that “an
awful lot of the numbers in the Act were plucked out of
the air and were altered on an unscientific basis as the Bill
went along”. However, DCMS argued that the ratios of
machines to tables should not be changed, because there
was no evidence for any alternative being any better.” (at
paragraph 167)
Further, the report noted that:
“Concerns were expressed during the passage of the
Gambling Act that the Small Casino model was not
economically viable. This was in part due to their table/
machine ratio. The National Casino Industry Forum
argued that a uniform 5:1 machine to table ratio capped

Switzerland: The Federal law on Games of Chance and
Gaming Houses, Article 8 sets a limit to a maximum of
three table games for Class B casinos. For Class A casinos,
these restrictions do not apply.
Canada: -

1.18. Minimum/maximum requirements with
regard to the number of table games in a
casino?
Austria: No express provisions contained in the Gambling
Act.
Denmark: No express provisions contained in the Act on
Gambling and the Executive Order on land-based casinos.
United Kingdom: Yes. Section 7 of the Gambling Act
2005 provides that a casino “is an arrangement whereby
people are given an opportunity to participate in one or
more casino games.” Therefore the offering of a simply
one casino game would be required, and consequently
one casino table would be required.
Switzerland: Yes (for class B casinos). In class B casinos
the number of slot machines is limited to 250; the Federal
Gaming Board can exceptionally give permission for
more machines. Class A casinos can operate an unlimited
number of machines.
Canada: Differs by province. No express provisions
contained in the regulations/laws in Ontario.

Additional question:
i) Can class A casinos operator more than ten tables? (For
example, if they have more than 250 machines).

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

Switzerland: Yes. Both Class B and Class A casinos can
operate more than 10 table games as long as they operate
at least one table per every 25 slot machine.
Class B casinos can only offer three types of table games.
The 1:25 table to machine ratio is a minimum requirement
and therefore there can be more than only one table per
each 25 slot machines.

1.19. Minimum/maximum requirements with
regard to the number of slot machines in a
casino?
Austria: No express provisions contained in the Gambling
Act. However, in the licensing booklet the Minister of
Finance clarified that there should not be an excessive
concentration of gambling in one location. To this end the
Minister of Finance considers that more than 500 gaming
machines per location are too much.
Denmark: No express provisions contained in the Act on
Gambling and the Executive Order on land-based casinos.
United Kingdom: Yes. Large casino (machine/table ratio
of 5:1 up to maximum) - maximum 150 machines from
categories B to D. Small casino (machine/table ratio of 2:1
up to maximum) - maximum 80 machines from categories
B to D. Casinos established under the Gaming Act 1968
(no machine/table ratio) - maximum of 20 machines from
categories B to D or any number of C or D machines.
Switzerland: Yes. The Federal Law on Games of Chance
and Casinos regulates that the relationship between the
number of table games and the number of slot machines
is 1 table to 25 machines. Specifically for Class B casinos
these are limited to a maximum of 250.
Canada: Differs by province. Ontario, no express
provisions contained for minimum or maximum
requirements in the Gaming Control Act or the regulations
dealing with casino gaming.
In Manitoba, through its provincial budget, the
moratorium on letting certain facilities was removed, and
some commercial sites were allowed to add up to 40
more VLTs.

1.20. Minimum/maximum requirement with
regard to the number of player seats in a
casino?
Austria: No express provisions contained in the Gambling
Act.
Denmark: No express provisions contained in the Act on
Gambling and the Executive Order on land-based casinos.
\

August 2014

United Kingdom: No express provisions contained in the
Gambling Act 2005.
Switzerland: No express provisions contained in the
legislation.

1.23. If yes, what are the reasons for the above
minimum/maximum requirements?

Canada: Differs by province. Not specifically addressed by
regulations/laws in Ontario.

Denmark: -

1.21. Minimum/maximum requirement with
regard to the floor area (square metres) of a
casino?
Austria: No express provisions contained in the Gambling
Act 2005.
Denmark: No express provisions contained in the Act
on Gambling and the Executive Order on land-based
casinos. However, Section 31 of the Act on Gambling
requires that when determining whether to grant a landbased casino licence emphasis has to be attached to the
maintenance of public order and the size and location of
the establishment.
United Kingdom: Yes. For an operator to run a small
casino, the minimum table gaming area of 500 square
metres is required as well as a minimum non-gambling
area of 250 square metre. In relation to big casinos, the
minimum table gaming area should be 1,000 square
metres with at least 500 square metres non-gambling
area.

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Austria: -

United Kingdom: Switzerland: According to the Federal Gaming Board,
“the difference between the two categories of casinos
has to do with historical reasons, the B Casinos were the
formal “Kursaals”.”
Canada: -

Additional question:
i) Switzerland: what are “Kursaals”?
Switzerland: It is the traditional German term for the
smaller type of casinos (now called Class B casinos), used
by the regulator in their answers to our questions.

Switzerland: No express provisions contained in the
legislation.
Canada: Differs by province. Not specifically addressed by
regulations/laws in Ontario.

1.22. Minimum/maximum requirement with
regard to the height (in euros) of jackpots?
Austria: No express provisions contained in the Gambling
Act.
Denmark: No express provisions contained in the Act on
Gambling and the Executive Order on land-based casinos.
United Kingdom: No express provisions contained the
Gambling Act 2005.
Switzerland: Yes (for class B casino). For Class A casino
licensees the amount of the jackpot is not limited. For
class B casino licensees the maximum jackpot amounts to
€164,000 (CHF200, 000).
Canada: Differs by province. No express provisions
contained in the regulations/laws in Ontario.

64

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August 2014

Category 2. Taxation and Fees
2.1. Which costs are imposed on licensees on a
yearly basis?
Austria: The Gambling Act provides that the following
costs apply to the casino licensee:
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A special casino tax;
Licence fee;
Application fee;
The Minister of Finance’s costs for supervising the
casino licensee.

Denmark: The Gaming Duties Act and the Act on
Gambling only refer to a gambling tax that land-based
casinos have to pay. In addition, Section 42(6) of the
Act on Gambling states that the Minister of Finance
may lay down rules governing the payment of fees for
processing applications and issuing licences and annual
fees to cover costs associated with the administration of
licences, supervision of the licence holder and monitoring
of the gambling market in order to prevent the provision,
organisation or promotion of participation in gambling
activities in Denmark without a licence. In addition the
explanatory notes to the Act on Gambling suggest that
the land-based casinos will have to bear the costs for the
Gambling Authority’s supervision of the casino market.
United Kingdom: Based on the Gambling Act 2005 ,
the first annual fee for a casino operating licence will be
payable six months after the licence has been issued. For
a small casino, the operating licence annual fee is £51,877,
whereas for a large casino the annual fee is £108,132. If
the licence holder is not operational, the annual fee will
be reduced by 50 percent. With regards to the Gambling
Act 1968, the first year annual fee for a casino operating
licence will be reduced by 25 percent.
Switzerland: Gambling Tax: The base of the casino tax is
gross gaming revenues (GGR). The basic casino tax rate is
40 percent, which applies for GGR up to CHF10m, for every
additional million Swiss Francs the taxation rate rises by
0.5 percent up to a maximum taxation rate of 80 percent.
The tax is due to be paid every year on January 31.
Supervision fee: Is calculated based on the effective
costs, which occurred during the past year in regards
to the supervision and it also commensurate with the
GGR achieved by the casino. The exact amount of the
supervision fee is stipulated every year for each individual
casino.

taxed and operators and suppliers must also pay annual
registration fees. In Manitoba, operators of casinos must
pay C$425 per VLT.

2.2. In particular, does a gambling tax apply to
land-based casinos?
Austria: No. The Gambling Act provides that no gambling
tax applies to land-based casinos, however a special
casino tax is applicable.
Denmark: Yes.
United Kingdom: Yes.
Switzerland: Yes.
Canada: Yes.

2.3. If yes, what is the tax rate and the tax basis
(GGR or turnover)?
Austria: The cost basis for the casino tax licence fee is the
annual GGR of each casino operation, in the case of payouts by gaming machines, the annual GGR from gaming
machines in each casino operation, less VAT. Annual GGR
are the stakes received by a casino operation during a
calendar year and payments made by players for gaming
equipment provided, less winnings paid out by the casino.
The tax rate amounts to 30 percent.
Denmark: Casinos are subject to a tax of 45 percent of
revenues up to DKK4m and 75 percent for any portion of
revenues above this amount.
United Kingdom: The UK gaming duty applies to landbased casinos and it is calculated on the following basis
(effective from April 1, 2013) : the first £2,242,500 of GGY
(Gross Gambling Yield) - 15 percent. The next £1,546,000
of GGY - 20 percent. The next £2,707,500 of GGY - 30
percent. The next £5,714,500 of GGY - 40 percent. The
remainder- 50 percent. Regarding the calculation of gross
gambling yield, the Gambling Commission has provided
this guidance via a FAQ:
“The annual gross gambling yield as calculated in
accordance with the following formula:
A+B-C
where:
A) is the total of any amounts that will be paid to the
licensee by way of stakes in the relevant period in
connection with the activities authorised by the licence
B) is the total of any amounts (exclusive of value added
tax) that will otherwise accrue to the licensee in the
relevant period directly in connection with the activities

Other fees for the individual services of the Federal
Gaming Board.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, casinos are

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

authorised by the licence
C) is the total of any amounts that will be deducted
by the licensee in respect of the provision of prizes or
winnings in the relevant period in connection with the
activities authorised by the licence.”
Switzerland: The base of the casino tax is gross gaming
revenues (GGR). The basic casino tax rate is 40 percent,
which applies for GGR up to CHF10m, for every additional
million Swiss Francs the taxation rate rises by 0.5 percent
up to a maximum taxation rate of 80 percent. The tax is
due to be paid every year on January 31.
Canada: Differs by province.
Ontario: Additionally, they are subject to a hosting fee
formula for host municipalities:
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5.25 percent of the first C$65m of slot revenues.
3.0 percent of the next C$135m of slot revenues.
2.5 percent of the next C$300m of slot revenues.
0.5 percent of slot revenues above C$500m.
4.0 percent of table game revenues.

casino floor; of the license privilege. When determining
how much tax should be assessed, jurisdictions must
consider competing markets and other leisure activities.
If gaming taxes are too high, then casinos may pass
the expense on to the customer in the form of higher
costs, making the gaming product less attractive in
comparison to other activities and gaming markets.”
Switzerland’s Federal Gaming Board provided the
following quote which indicates a balance between
profitably of the casino operation with revenue generation
(which is similar in aspects to the above quote): “the
setting of the specific tax rates was based on the reflection
that the profitability on the own resources of the casinos
have to be appropriate. Higher gains should be skimmed.
The system that was chosen is fulfilling that aim. The
actual results confirm that the estimations that were taken
when the law was adopted were correct.”
GamblingCompliance Commentary 1:
Denmark re-regulated both online gambling and
land-based casino gambling and became subject to
a state-aid case before the European Commission
with respect to differential taxation rates (European
“Commission Decision of 20.09.2011 on the measure
No C 35/2010 (ex N302/2010) which Denmark
is planning to implement in the form of Duties
for Online Gaming in the Danish Gaming Duties
Act’). The Commission’s ruling provides quotes
from contemporaneous memorandums which
provide insights regarding the reasoning behind
policy decision with respect to taxation rates
and differentials between land-based and online
gambling taxation. These are extracted below, with
a link to the decision in the accompanying sources
document:

In Quebec, all profits are given to the province’s Treasury
as Loto-Quebec is the sole licensee permitted to operate
casinos in the province.

Additional question:
i) Could you provide the motivation regulators have behind
setting the specific tax rates?
Gambling taxation is a policy issue, established by
government more so than regulators which implement
policy. There are many differing opinions regarding
what is and is not an appropriate taxation regime, what
motivations should be addressed; and if these motivations
are completing, balanced. This is particularly the case
when jurisdictions regulate online gambling, however, it
is also a ‘live’ issue when regulating land-based casinos,
particularly in instances where casino gambling is already
available in the region, such as across Europe. The
following is a quote from “The Regulation of Commercial
Gaming” (Cory Aronovitz, 5 Chapman L Rev. 181 (2002);
extracted in ‘Indian Gaming Law Cases and Materials’,
Kathryn R L Rand and Steven Andrew Light, California
Academic Press (2008) at page 16) which summarizes
the competing tensions at play, policy issues and the
balancing of ensuring a viable, attractive gaming offers
within other policy constraints:

“35. With regard to the different tax rates applicable
for online and land-based gambling activities, the
Danish authorities explained that they are confronted
with a legislative and regulatory dilemma. On the
one hand, they could no longer maintain the current
monopolistic situation and delay the liberalisation
of the online gambling market. On the other hand,
providing for a uniform tax level for online and landbased gambling activities would undermine the policy
objectives pursued in this field by the legislator.
36. In particular, the Danish authorities argued that
setting a uniform tax level for all gambling activities
would lead to inconsistent solutions, regardless of
the tax model opted for. If the Danish authorities
relied on a model based on a lower, uniform 20 per
cent tax rate, this would result in a strong incentive
for gambling in land-based casinos, which would
be contrary to the general interest of consumer
protection.

“Tax revenue is perhaps the primary economic benefit
that a jurisdiction derives from the authorization of
gaming. Gaming taxes typically focus on the patron
and the casino. Taxes on patrons include admission,
sales, and income taxes. Casino taxes include state and
local taxes on gross, adjusted gross or net revenues;
the quantity of games or gaming devices; the size of the

37. Conversely, providing a model based on a higher

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August 2014

uniform tax rate similar to the one applied to landbased gambling would dissuade online operators
from seeking a licence to provide services from
Denmark, thus defeating the liberalisation objectives
of the law. This would also be contrary to the general
interest of consumer protection since no effective
control of the online gambling activities would be
possible.

to the examples of France and Italy, which have
liberalised their market and set out rates of duty
higher than the British ones. The Danish government
notes that these markets are significantly bigger than
the Danish market. The size of a market can have
a tangible impact on the operators’ willingness to
enter a market even if there is a higher tax rate, as
costs which are always associated with setting up
operations in a new market tend to be comparatively
higher for entering smaller markets.

38. In support of their position, the Danish
government provided a memorandum from the
Ministry of Taxation of 6 March 2010 to the Policy
Spokesmen of the political parties of the Danish
Parliament regarding the setting of the level of duty.
The memorandum shows that the current differential
tax treatment should be regarded as the result of
a balancing exercise aiming to ensure, on the one
hand, that the law is upheld, while on the other
hand, maximising the tax revenue and maintaining
consumption of gambling at a moderate level.
....
131. In the memorandum submitted by the Danish
Ministry of Taxation of 6 March 2010 to the Policy
Spokesmen of the political parties of the Danish
Parliament regarding the setting of the level of
duty72, the choice of the lower tax rate of 20 per
cent of GGR for the online gambling was justified by
reference to the following criteria:
(a) The gambling provided under Danish licences
should be adjusted to the current offering from
online gambling providers abroad, i.e. the tax rate
needs to be adjusted in order to match the high
pay-out ratios offered by foreign online gambling
providers, inducing them to actually apply for a
licence.
(b) The total number of games offered should be
increased leading, overall, to a corresponding
increase in turnover.
(c) The gambling products should be so attractive
that players do not want to gamble on sites of
foreign (illegal) operators.
(d) Blocking instruments should be used to ensure,
in combination with item (a) (c), that gambling on the sites of illegal operators is
reduced to a minimum.

134. In this memorandum, a simulation of the possible
revenue consequences is also made for tax rates
of 15, 20 and 25 per cent, taking also into account
the potential changes in the gamblers’ gambling
patterns and the operators’ actions. The simulation
exercise concludes that a tax rate of 20 per cent will
presumably still make it sufficiently attractive for
gambling provides to apply for a Danish licence, and
for gamblers to get an attractive offer. If the tax rate is
set at a higher level (i.e., 25 per cent), the pressure on
payout rates may be expected to be bigger and the
positive revenue consequences of a 25 per cent rate
may therefore turn out to be lower than those of a 20
per cent rate.
135. The Danish legislator came therefore to the
conclusion that if the tax rate for online gambling
were set at a higher level, this would most likely result
in a gambling product that would not be attractive
enough to gamblers, leading also to a turnover drain
which may be equal to the immediate prospect of
higher tax revenues.”
GamblingCompliance Commentary 2: Singapore
was a jurisdiction which has implemented a casino
policy in 2006 of large-scale ‘integrated resorts’,
replacing its prohibitive stance on casinos. The casino
policy had its legislative base in the Casino Control
Act 2006. The second reading speech by the (then)
Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Home Affairs,
Wong Kan Sengm, on February 13, 2006 noted, the
following on taxation (as well as gambling contracts
and investors), highlighting the issue in Singapore’s
case of the need to balance the investment in
constructing casinos with taxation and the success of
casinos:

132. In this memorandum, the Danish authorities
note that the legislation in the UK, which should be
regarded as being very close to the Danish gambling
regulation, provides for a tax rate of 15 per cent for
online gambling. The Danish government considered
that the tax rate for online gambling could be set at a
higher level than the UK one insofar as in contrast to
the UK, Denmark will also introduce complementary
blocking measures to make it more difficult for
players to gamble on sites of foreign operators that
have not obtained a Danish licence.

“Investors’ Feedback
.....
14. In response to feedback, the Government also
decided to enact the Casino Control Bill early so
that potential investors will have a better idea
of our regulatory regime and what they can and
cannot do. In addition, through this Casino Control
Bill, the Government is committed to a number
of measures to provide greater certainty and
support to investors of our Integrated Resorts. This
is because the Integrated Resorts require heavy

133. In the same line, the Danish government refers

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

investments. We want them to succeed after the
investors have committed to spend billions of
dollars on the projects. For instance, the casino
tax rates will remain unchanged for 15 years. The
two casino operators will also enjoy an exclusivity
period of 10 years. During this period, no new
casinos will be allowed. The lease of the land on
which the Integrated Resorts will be sited will be for
60 years and they be allowed to operate a casino
for 30 years, subject to the suitability of the casino
operators to run them.
....
Casino Tax and Enforceability of Gaming Contracts

2.4. Is the gambling tax applicable on a yearly
basis?

59. Let me now turn to the casino tax and
enforceability of gaming contracts. Section 146 to
152 of Bill shall provide for tax rates of 5 percent
and 15 percent to be levied on the gross gaming
revenue from premium players and non-premium
players respectively. This is on top of the existing
corporate and goods and services taxes that the
casino operator shall have to pay. As mentioned
earlier, the tax rates will remain unchanged for 15
years as part of our commitments to the Integrated
Resorts.

Switzerland: Yes, due to be paid every January 31.

60. Section 202 of the Bill shall also make a related
amendment to the Income Tax Act to impose a
withholding tax of 3 percent of the commissions
earned by the junket promoters.

United Kingdom: No.

61. Separately, the Section 40 of the Bill will allow
gambling contracts made in casinos enforceable
in courts. To put it simply, the winner can take the
loser to court if the loser does not pay his dues.
Similarly, credit extended by casino and licensed
junket promoters to patrons for the purpose of
casino gaming in a manner that complies with
the Casino Control Bill are also enforceable. This
is needed to provide assurance to our casino
operators that they will have legal recourse to
recover their earnings.
62. For consistency, Section 201 of the Bill will make
a related amendment to the Civil Law Act to also
make enforceable, gambling contracts between
patrons and other legal gambling operators in
Singapore, such as Singapore Pools and Singapore
Turf Club. However, unlike the casinos and junket
operators, gambling contracts issued by the other
legal operators that are based on credit shall
continue to be unenforceable. This means that if
Pools or Turf Club decide to take bets based on
credit and if the patron subsequently defaults in
payment, Pools or Turf Club will not be able to take
the patron to court to reclaim the payment. This is
to ensure that the local gambling operators do not
promote gambling to locals by giving out credit.”

Austria: Yes.
Denmark: No. According to Section 21 of the Gaming
Duties Act the duty period for the gambling tax shall be
one calendar month.
United Kingdom: No. The person who is registered on the
gaming duty register is required to make two returns and
payments in each six month accounting period. (According
to HM Revenue & Customs)

Canada: Yes.

2.5. Does the gambling tax rate vary depending
on the category of casino game?
Austria: No.
Denmark: No.

Switzerland: No.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, yes. Table game
revenues are taxed differently than slot revenues.

Additional question:
i) Table games and slots are taxed differently - are slot
revenues taxed higher than table games?
Canada: In Ontario, the taxation rates vary. The first
C$65m of slot revenues are taxed at 5.25 percent, the
next $135m of slot revenues are taxed at 3.0 percent. The
tax rate for slot machines continues to lessen on higher
slot revenue. In general, if the taxation rates differ, slot
machine taxation tends to be higher.
This is becoming a more common trend that can be seen
in the United States as well. For example Pennsylvania
taxes about 55 percent for slot machine revenue and
about 14 percent for table games. In general, slot
machines require less labour and provide higher margins
for casinos.

2.6. In particular, does a licensing fee apply to
land-based casinos?
Austria: Yes.
Denmark: No. The gambling legislation does not
explicitly provide for a licensing fee for land-based

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

casinos. The Gaming Duties Act and the Act on Gambling
only refer to a gambling tax that land-based casinos have
to pay. In addition, Section 42(6) of the Act on Gambling
states that the Minister of Finance may lay down rules
governing the payment of fees for processing applications
and issuing licences and annual fees to cover costs
associated with the administration of licences, supervision
of the licence holder and monitoring of the gambling
market in order to prevent the provision, organisation
or promotion of participation in gambling activities in
Denmark without a licence.

August 2014

Austria: Yes.
Denmark: No express provisions contained in the
gambling legislation in regards to an application fee for
land-based casinos.
United Kingdom: Yes.
Switzerland: No express provisions contained in the
regulation. However, as the Federal Gaming Board
explained to GamblingCompliance:

United Kingdom: Yes.

“For the application procedure to obtaining a licence,
the applicants have to pay an application fee in advance.
After the decision the applicants have to pay an amount
corresponding to the work of the authority in examining
their files.”

Switzerland: Yes.
Canada: Differs by province In Ontario, there are
registration fees to operate a gaming site, or be a supplier
to a gaming site. In Quebec, there are not licensing fees.

2.7. If yes, in which amount and how and on
which basis is the licence fee calculated?
Austria: Section 59a of the Gambling Act determines that
a fee in the amount of €100,000 is payable by the licence
applicant that will be granted the licence as soon as the
licence applicant is granted the licence.
Denmark: United Kingdom: Different licence fees apply. The licence
fee for a casino operating licence is paid annually. The
annual casino operating licence fee for a small casino is
£51,877 and for a large casino, the fee amounts to £108,132
in relation to licences under the Gambling Act 2005. For
personal management licences, the fee is £370. The fee
requires a five-year maintenance check.
For personal functional licence fee, the cost is £185 and
is payable every five years. The annual fees for licences
under the Gaming Act 1968 are based on gross gaming
yield and are as follows: A (less than £5.5m) - £17,378; B
(£5.5m-£27.5m) - £23,112; C (£27.5m - £110m) - £74,112; D
(£110m-£275m) - £329,711; E (£275m+) - £443,526.
Switzerland: The sample of the concession document
states that a one-off licensing fee is applicable. However,
the amount of the licensing fee is not disclosed. The
Federal Gaming Board confirmed to GamblingCompliance
that casino licensees have to pay a licence fee.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, annually, an
operator must pay a C$100,000, a gaming-related supplier
must pay C$15,000, and a non-gaming-related supplier
must pay $2,000.

2.8. In particular, do licence applicants have to
pay an application fee?

Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, registration fees
(outlined above) are required at the time of application.
Applicants may be required to pay the reasonable costs of
an investigation to register an individual.

2.9. If yes, what is the amount and how and on
which basis is it calculated?
Austria: Section 59a of the Gambling Act determines
that the licence application fee for a single casino licence
amounts to €10,000. Therefore the licence fee for the city
and the country package amounted to €60,000.
Denmark: United Kingdom: The licence application fee for a small
casino is £28,641 and for large casino is £37,591 under the
licence regime under the Gambling Act 2005. In relation
to the Gaming Act 1968, the application fees are based on
gross gaming yield and are as follows: A (less than £5.5m)
- £6,509; B (£5.5m - £27.5m) - £9,763; C (£27.5m-£110m) 19,528; D(£110m-£275m) - £19,528; E (£275m+) - £19,528.
Switzerland: Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, annually, an
operator must pay a C$100,000, a gaming-related supplier
must pay C$15,000, and a non-gaming-related supplier
must pay $2,000.

Additional question:
i) For Canada, could you define what ‘gaming-related’ and
‘non-gaming-related’ suppliers are?
Canada: A gaming-related supplier is defined as “a person
who manufactures, provides, installs, tests, maintains or
repairs gaming equipment or who provides consulting or
similar services directly related to the playing of a lottery
scheme or the operation of a gaming site.”

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

A non-gaming related supplier is defined as “a person
who provides goods or services that related to the
construction, furnishing, repair, maintenance or business
of a gaming site or a related business but that, in the
Opinion of the Registrar, are not directly related to the
playing of a lottery scheme or the operation of a gaming
site.”

2.10. When do licence applicants have to pay
such application fee?
Austria: When filing the licence application.
Denmark: United Kingdom: The fees are paid when submitting the
operating licence application.
Switzerland: As the Federal Gaming Board explained
to GamblingCompliance: “For the application procedure
to obtaining a licence, the applicants have to pay
an application fee in advance. After the decision the
applicants have to pay an amount corresponding to the
work of the authority in examining their files.”
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, applicants pay at
the time of applying/renewing registration.

2.11. Is the application fee a one-time payment
or payable on a regular basis (for example
every year)?
Austria: The licence application fee has to be paid only
once when applying for the licence.
Denmark: United Kingdom: The application fee is a one-time
payment; however, annual licence fees apply (£51,877 for
a small casino and £108,132 for a large casino under the
Gambling Act 2005).
Switzerland: According to the Federal Gaming Board: “It
was a one-time payment (actually 2 down payments and
the balance at the end of the procedure).”
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, registration fees
are paid annually.

2.12. In particular, do any other (administrative)
costs apply to the licensee(s) or licence
applicants?
Austria: Yes.
Denmark: No. The gambling legislation does not
explicitly provide for any other (administrative) costs

land-based casinos have to pay. However, Section 42(6)
of the Act on Gambling states that the Minister of Finance
may lay down rules governing the payment of fees for
processing applications and issuing licences and annual
fees to cover costs associated with the administration of
licences, supervision of the licence holder and monitoring
of the gambling market in order to prevent the provision,
organisation or promotion of participation in gambling
activities in Denmark without a licence.
United Kingdom: Yes. For instance, Gambling
Commission guidance notes for an operating licence
application form notes that: “The fee payable is based
on the overall operating licence category into which
the activities fall. There will be additional fees on top
of this if more than one of the three activities is applied
for to address the additional complexity of regulating a
combination of these activities.”
Switzerland: Yes. According to the Federal Gaming
Board: “Licensed casinos have to pay fees to cover the
cost of supervision of the Federal Gaming Board. They
are determined for each year on the basis of the cost of
supervision from the previous year. The Federal Gaming
Board will also assess fees for its orders to cover its
expenses. It can request payments in advance.”
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, applicants may be
required to pay the reasonable costs of an investigation to
register an individual.

2.13. If yes, what is the amount and how and on
which basis is it calculated?
Austria: Section 29 of the Gambling Act provides that
the Minister of Finance - as supervisory authority - has
the right to enter the casino licensees’ premises at all
times. The costs for supervising (costs for the Ministry’s
staff entering the casino, etc) shall be borne by the casino
licensee. The licensing booklet requires the licensee to
provide a guarantee (in cash or from a bank, etc) of at least
10 percent of the licensee’s stock capital valid for the term
of the licence. The exact amount of the guarantee will be
determined in the licence granting decision.
Denmark: United Kingdom: No specific amount is listed.
Switzerland: According to the Federal Gaming Board:
“Licensed casinos have to pay fees to cover the cost
of supervision of the Federal Gaming Board. They are
determined for each year on the basis of the cost of
supervision from the previous year. The Federal Gaming
Board will also assess fees for its orders to cover its
expenses. It can request payments in advance.”
Canada: Differs by province.

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August 2014

Category 3. Licensing specifics
3.1. Specific licensing requirements for landbased casino applicants?
Austria: Section 21 of the Gambling Act provides for the
following licensing requirements:
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The licence applicant has to have the form of a joint
stock company having a supervisory board.
The licence applicant’s articles of association may
not contain any provisions that could endanger the
security and proper performance of the games
The licence applicant’s minimum capital has to be at
least €22m and the licence applicant has to prove the
proper/legal source of the finances. Furthermore this
capital has to be available for the board of directors
and the casino offer in Austria.
Those who hold shares and have a dominant influence
on the licence applicant have to satisfy a series
of requirements in order to ensure the sound and
prudent management of the licence applicant and its
reliability from the point of view of regulatory policy
The licence applicant’s managing directors have to
have the required professional background and the
personal qualifications and experience required to run
a land-based casino.
Regarding the licence applicant’s seat, operators are
not required to be a joint stock company based in
Austria, or to establish a joint stock company in Austria
in case they receive a licence, provided that they are
based in the EU/EEA and have a comparable casino
licence and can be controlled through the cooperation
of authorities.
Further requirements have been set concerning
experience, addiction prevention, player protection,
money laundering and crime prevention, quality of
service, supervision inside the company, general
infrastructure, general development provisions as well
as overall operation security.
Each of the abovementioned requirements have to
be fulfilled. In case of non-compliance with one of the
requirements, the application can only be considered
if all other applicants failed to meet one of the
requirements.

Denmark: Sections 25 to 31 of the Act on Gambling set
certain licensing requirements:
With regard to natural persons the following requirements
apply:
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They have to be 21 or older.
They are not under guardianship.
They have not filed for reconstruction, bankruptcy or
debt restructuring and are not under reconstruction,
bankruptcy or debt restructuring.

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They have not been convicted of a criminal offence
that gives reason to believe that there is a clear risk of
abuse of the access to work with gambling
They do not have unpaid, outstanding debt to the
public sector.
They are resident in the EU or EEA or have appointed a
representative.

With regard to companies and legal persons the following
requirements apply:
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They are established in Denmark or in another EU or
EEA country, or have a representative
They have not filed for reconstruction, bankruptcy or
debt restructuring and are not under reconstruction,
bankruptcy or debt restructuring
They have not been convicted of a criminal offence
that gives reason to believe that there is a clear risk of
abuse of the access to work with gambling
They do not have unpaid, outstanding debt to the
public sector
The members of the board of management and the
board of directors fulfil the requirements applicable to
natural persons mentioned above.

In general the Act on Gambling states that a licence to
provide and organise gambling can only be granted
to applicants that are assumed to be able to carry out
gambling activities in a sound financial and professional
manner.

condition for obtaining such approval that the employee
is 21 or older, is not under guardianship and has not
been convicted of a criminal offence that gives reason to
believe that there is a clear risk of abuse of the access to
work with gambling. An employee cannot be approved
if the conduct of the employee or others who can exert
a controlling influence have behaved in such a way that
gives reason to assume that the employee will not carry
out his work in an acceptable manner.
United Kingdom: When deciding whether an applicant
is suitable to be granted a licence, the Gambling
Commission takes into account the following elements:
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According to Section 39 of the Act on Gambling also
employees of land-based casinos shall be approved by
the regulatory authority prior to their employment. It is a

72

The identity and ownership of the applicant
The financial and other circumstances of the applicant
The “integrity element” of the applicant
The competence and expertise, as well as the
qualifications and history of the applicant
Criminality – whether the applicant has a criminal
record.

Switzerland: The licensing requirements are contained in
both the Federal Law on Games of Chance and Gaming
Houses and the Executive Ordinance on Games of Chance
and Gaming Houses.

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According to Article 10 of the federal law, a location
concession is required in order to establish a casino
at a certain location whereas for the operation of the
casino, the operator needs to apply for an operating
concession. Article 11 provides that applicants must
be either: 1) a public-law legal person; 2) a joint-stock
company under Swiss law, whose share capital
is divided into registered shares and the directors
must be residing in Switzerland; 3) cooperatives
under Swiss law whose members are residing in
Switzerland.
Article 12 further stipulates that a concession is
granted only when the applicant has sufficient capital,
have a good reputation, can provide assurance of
diligent business conduct and can prove the origin of
the funds available.
Article 14 provides that an operating licence can only
be granted if the applicant is able to guarantee that
they will abide and comply with all legal requirements
and the games rules; when the applicant provides
a security policy and a social concept; when it can
be proved that the casino will be economically
viable; when the applicant is able to show that the
necessary measures in regards to the conditions for
the disposition of the casino tax have been taken. The
security concept must clearly show the measures to
be taken by the casino to ensure the safe operation of
the games as well as what steps will be taken in order

to combat crime and money laundering. The social
concept must demonstrate what measures the casino
will undertake in order to prevent harm inflicted
from gambling and the methods that will be used to
provide help with gambling problems.
With regard to location concessions, Article 13
of the federal law provides that a licence can
only be granted if the canton or the municipality
recommends it; and if the applicant can demonstrate
the economical use that the casino will have on the
location.

The licensing conditions contained in the Executive
Ordinance on Games of Chance and Gaming Houses are
the following
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The licensing requirements contained in the Federal
Law on Games of Chance and Gaming Houses are the
following:

Furthermore the Act on Gambling stipulates when
issuing land-based casino licences that emphasis may be
attached to the maintenance of public order and the size
and location of the gambling establishment.
The day to the day operation of a land-based casino must
be conducted by the licence holder (in case of a natural
person holding the licence) or a manager (in case of a
legal person holding the licence). According to Section
37 of the Act on Gambling the regulatory authority
shall approve the manager prior to employment. It is a
condition for obtaining such approval that the manager
is 21 or older, is not under guardianship and has not been
convicted of a criminal offence that gives reason to believe
that there is a clear risk of abuse of the access to work
with gambling. The manager cannot be approved if the
manager or others who can exert a controlling influence
on the manager’s work has behaved in such a way that
gives reason to assume that the gambling establishment
will not be operated in an acceptable manner.

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Article 7 provides that in regards to the location
concessions, the commission will submit the
application to a home canton who will then consider
the application with the local municipality. A location
concession is only granted with the approval of both
the local canton and the local municipality.
Article 12 of the ordinance sets out further
requirements an applicant needs to comply with. The
applicant must demonstrate: 1) that the executive
board members as well as the senior staff have
the required expertise and sufficient knowledge
in managing a casino; 2) that an effective quality
management system is in place; 3) that an electronic
accounting and control system is in place. Further
requirements include: a business plan; information
on the construction of the casino which includes
the location of the games; the casino rules and all
other rules required by the ordinance; employment
contracts and all other agreements with those who
are put in charge with the management as well as
confirmation that all of the staff have good reputation.

Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, Regulation 81/12
outlines the requirements for establishing a gaming site.
Approval of the municipal authority is required.
To receive a license, project expenditure must exceed
C$10m.
Ontario Regulation 78/12 outlines the requirements for
registration of gaming suppliers. A gaming supplier is
defined as “a person who manufactures, provides, installs,
tests, maintains or repairs gaming equipment or who
provides consulting or similar services directly related
to the playing of a lottery scheme or the operation of a
gaming site.”

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August 2014

3.2. Are these licensing requirements
determined by law or by regulations, etc?

3.4. In case of legal persons applying for a
licence does national legislation also set forth
certain licensing requirements for individuals
(board of the licence applicant, shareholders of
the company, etc).

Austria: The Gambling Act determines the licensing
requirements. The licensing booklet specifies the
particular licensing requirements.
Denmark: The mentioned licence requirements are
determined by the Act on Gambling and the Executive
Order on land-based casinos.
United Kingdom: The UK’s licensing objective include
keeping gambling crime free, keep gambling fair and open
and protect minors and vulnerable people from being
harmed or exploited by gambling, is found in Section 1 of
the Gambling Act 2005. However, licensing requirements
are determined by regulation as well as Licence
Conditions and Codes of Practice. A licensing, compliance
and enforcement policy statement of September 2009
can be found on the Commission’s website.
Switzerland: The licensing requirements are contained in
both the Federal Law on Games of Chance and Gaming
Houses and the Executive Ordinance on Games of Chance
and Gaming Houses.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, these
requirements are outlined in Ontario Regulation 81/12 and
Ontario Regulation 78/12, not the Gaming Control Act.

3.3. Does the national legislation allow
individuals (natural persons) to apply for a
land-based casino licence?
Austria: No. The licence applicant has to be a stock
company.

Austria: Yes. Section 21 of the Gambling Act in particular
provides that:
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Denmark: Yes. Section 28 of the Act on Gambling
requires the members of the board of management and
the board of directors to fulfil certain conditions (age
requirement, certain suitability requirements).
United Kingdom: No express provisions contained in
the Gambling Act 2005. However, the schedule pertinent
to casino premise applications (Schedule 9) states that
“Before considering an application to which this Schedule
applies a licensing authority shall comply with regulations
of the Secretary of State about inviting competing
applications.” These may contain further provisions and
requirements.
The Gambling Act 2005 contains some general principles
when assessing licence applications (Section 70), these
include, the Commission having regard to:
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Denmark: Yes. According to Section 25(1) of the Act on
Gambling a land-based casino licence may be granted to
persons and companies, etc (legal persons).
United Kingdom: Yes. There is nothing in the Gambling
Act to the contrary. The Gambling Act 2005 only states
that applications cannot be made by: An application
may not be made by a child or young person, or a group
that includes a child or young person.” (Section 69(3)).
Practically however, the tender requirements to compete
for licences may make it difficult to foresee an individual
meeting or beating companies in a tender competition.
Switzerland: No.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, individuals can
apply to be operators of a gaming site.

Those who hold shares and have a dominant influence
on the licence applicant have to satisfy a series
of requirements in order to ensure the sound and
prudent management of the licence applicant and its
reliability from the point of view of regulatory policy.
The licence applicant’s managing directors have to
have the required professional background and the
personal qualifications and experience required to run
a land-based casino.

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“...the licensing objectives,
...an opinion of the applicant’s suitability to carry on
the licensed activities,
...the suitability of any gaming machine to be used in
connection with the licensed activities, and
...the suitability of any other equipment to be used in
connection with the licensed activities (by reference,
in particular, to
...any relevant provision of standards established
under section 89 [these are relevant for remote
gaming licences].”

Switzerland: Yes. The Executive Ordinance of 2004,
Article 5a1 sets out the requirements for legal persons.
These include: a) a document from the commercial
register; b) a document from the share register or list
of cooperative members; c) a document from the debt
collection and bankruptcy register; d) an up-to-date
audit report with all financial statements; e) an Annual
report; f) a consolidated financial statement and a
group’s organization chart; g) an overview of the financial

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

investments; h) a list of any criminal investigations and any
criminal or civil proceedings for the last five years; and i) a
list of any proceedings or decisions related to operational
and professional practice for the last ten years.
Canada: Differs by province. Ontario’s Gaming Control
Act defines Category 1 gaming assistants and Category 2
gaming assistants. Officers, directors or partners of the
operator are not allowed to play a lottery scheme in their
gaming site.

3.5. In which form and where does the
licensing authority publish the call for tender
(language, are there supporting documents
further specifying or even adding licensing
requirements, are all documents publicly
available)?
Austria: A public tender for land-based casino licences
was held in 2011 for the first time. The Minister of Finance
published a licensing booklet in German language only
in a special area of its homepage. Those who wanted
to access the document had to register and log in to
download the document.
Denmark: There are no express provisions with regard
to the tendering process for land-based casino licences
contained in the gambling legislation. According to the
website of the Gambling Authority, the tender will be
published in the daily press.
United Kingdom: Tender competitions for premises
licences are run through the select local authorities
(councils). GamblingCompliance is unsure of the
availability of past tender documents however, these
would need to be transparent and open which could
be satisfied by registering to receive documents or
documents being publicly available.
Moreover, as noted in Schedule 9 of the Gambling
Act, competition for licences: “Before considering an
application to which this Schedule applies a licensing
authority shall comply with regulations of the Secretary of
State about inviting competing applications.”
Switzerland: Although the legislation does not expressly
contain provisions as to , where the call for tender has
to be published, in the 2010-2011 tender process the call
for tender was published on the website of the Federal
Gaming Board, in the federal official gazette, in the official
gazette of commerce and in the official gazettes of the
cantons, where the casinos were planned to be located.
The Federal Gaming Board further explained the process
to GamblingCompliance: “the call for tender is published
in the Federal Gazette in the three languages German,
French and Italian. The licence requirements are defined in
the Federal Law on Games of Chance and Casinos.”

Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, the OLG has a
procurement page on their website. (www.olg.ca/about/
procurement/index.jsp). The OLG also has a separate
page for its modernization plan, where a large portion of
the plan is to find new operators for commercial gaming
facilities. (www.modernolg.ca)

3.6. Does the national legislation require any
technical certifications in the course of the
licence application?
Austria: Yes. The licensing booklet specifies that the
licence applicants’ organisation, operation and equipment
shall live up to the highest standards of integrity and
security. The licence applicant shall be used to working
with certified standards and shall prove that the licence
applicant has received the necessary certificates.
Denmark: Yes. Chapter 6 of the Executive Order on landbased casinos concerns the gaming machine technology
and in particular requires that for each roulette wheel
installed and each gaming machine there must be a
declaration from an accredited testing company approved
by the Danish Gaming Authority. In addition, gaming
machines that pay out winnings have to be connected to
a national monitoring system and have to be configured
that they cannot function when they are disconnected
from the national monitoring system.
Section 22 of the Executive Order on land-based casinos
also requires the casino management to ensure daily that
the gaming technology equipment works flawlessly.
United Kingdom: No. The Gambling Act 2005 does
not contain provisions on technical certifications (these
are contained in separate documents). However, the
consolidated version of the Licence Conditions and
Codes of Practice of May 2014 (in force since August 4,
2014) provides that “licensees must comply with the
Commission’s specifications for casino equipment.”
Switzerland: No.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, when deciding
whether or not to approve gaming equipment, the
Registrar of the AGCO may approve equipment if it has
been approved in another jurisdiction where gaming
is legal. Critical software involved in a particular game
must be approved by the AGCO before the game is made
available for patron play.

3.7. Specific requirements land-based casino
licensees have to meet?
Austria: Yes. Section 24 of the Gambling Act in particular
states that:
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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

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branches outside of Austria;
The acquisition of qualified majority shares in another
company requires approval of the Minister of Finance;
The licensee has to inform the Minister of Finance
immediately in case somebody’s (direct or indirect)
interest in the licensee exceeds 25 percent of its
shares. The Minister of Finance may even oppose in
case an decrease of the casino tax is expected.
The licensee’s enlargement of purpose of business
has to be approved by the Minister of Finance as well.

Denmark: Yes. Part 8 of the Act on Gambling concerns
the revocation and voiding of licences. Section 44 of the
Act on Gambling provides that the regulatory authority
may revoke a land-based casino licence if the licence
holder or his representative:
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Is guilty of gross or repeated violation of the Act
on Gambling, secondary legislation established in
accordance with the Act on Gambling or terms of the
licence;
Has been convicted of a criminal offence that gives
reason to believe that there is a clear risk of abuse of
the access to work with gambling activities;
Is no longer assumed to be able to carry out gambling
activities in a sound financial and professional
manner;
The conduct of the licence holder, members of the
board of directors or the board of management or
others who can exert a decisive influence on the
operation of the enterprise have behaved in such way
that there is reason to believe that the enterprise will
no longer be operated in an acceptable manner:
Grossly or repeatedly fails to report duties in
pursuance of the Gambling Duties Act;
Grossly or repeatedly fails to pay outstanding duties
or does not provide security;
Fails to pay outstanding fees;
Has unpaid outstanding debt to the public sector in
excess of DKK 100,000; or
Has not applied for registration of the enterprise with
the customs and tax administration within four weeks
after the licence was granted.

Furthermore, a licence to provide gambling activities may
be revoked if the licence holder’s provision or organisation
of gambling activities causes significant disturbance of
public order.
Section 45 of the Act on Gambling provides that a licence
to provide gambling activities is void if:
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The licence holder notifies that he no longer wishes to
provide gambling activities;
The provision of gambling activities has not been
commenced within 12 months after the licence was
granted by the regulatory authority;
Gambling activities are not provided for a continuous
period of more than six months, unless the provision

August 2014

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is seasonal;
If the licence holder dies or no longer fulfils one of
the suitability conditions stipulated by the Act on
Gambling; or
The Bankruptcy Court, upon request from the
Commerce and Companies Agency, has ordered that
the enterprise be compulsorily dissolved.

Section 26 of the Executive Order on land-based casinos
in particular requires casinos to prepare an Annual Report.
The annual accounts have to be certified by the auditors.
United Kingdom: Yes. Apart from meeting tender
competition requirements of local authorities and
minimum floor space requirements and gaming machine/
gaming table ratios, operating licences for casinos have
the same conditions as operating licences for other forms
of gambling. Guidance on operating licence applications
is available and include information such as management
structure of applicant, management and ownership details
among others.
Under Section 120 of the Gambling Act 2005, a licence
may be revoked under the following circumstances: a) if a
licensed activity has been performed in such a way that it
is consistent with the licensing objectives, b) if the licence
conditions have been breached, c) if the licence holder
has not cooperated in the prescribed manner, d) if the
licence holder is found to be unfit to carry on the licensed
activities.
Switzerland: See answer 3.1 above.
Canada: Differs by province. The Ontario Regulation
81/12 lays out the requirements for the authorization of a
gaming site in Ontario:
1. The Corporation prepares a business case for the
proposed gaming site that,
i. sets out the cost of establishing the proposed gaming
site,
ii. demonstrates the viability of the proposed gaming
site and the adequacy of responsible gaming features
for the proposed gaming site, and
iii. sets out or demonstrates any other matter that the
Corporation considers appropriate.
2. The Corporation gives a copy of the business case, and
any other information requested by the Minister or by the
Minister of Finance, to the Minister and the Minister of
Finance for review.
3. In the case of a proposed gaming site to be established
at premises in a municipality or on a reserve,
i. the municipal council or the council of the band, as the
case may be, seeks public input into the establishment
of the proposed gaming site and gives the Corporation,
in writing, a description of the steps it took to do so and
a summary of the public input it received, and

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August 2014

ii. the municipal council or the council of the band, as
the case may be, passes a resolution supporting the
establishment of the gaming site in the municipality or
on the band’s reserve and gives a copy of the resolution
to the Corporation.

Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, the current
modernization plan has six gaming bundles up for
operation, and to qualify, the bidders must first meet a
Request for Pre-Qualification.

4. The Minister and the Minister of Finance agree to the
business case prepared by the Corporation.
5. The Corporation publishes a notice in a newspaper or
on the Corporation’s website, or both, as determined by
the Corporation, advising that the proposed gaming site is
to be established and containing the information that the
Corporation considers appropriate.

3.8. With which requirements must a
(prospective) bidder comply in order to be able
to participate in auction (or beauty contest)
in order to obtain a licence for exploiting a
casino?
Austria: The Gambling Act states that a land-based casino
licence may solely be granted to an applicant that fulfils
all the licensing requirements specified in Section 21.
For further details on the specific licensing requirements
please refer to the Section on the licensing requirements
above.
Denmark: No express provisions contained in the Act
on Gambling and the Executive Order on land-based
casinos. However, Part 4 of the Act on Gambling (criteria
for providing games) provides for certain requirements
which licence applicants have to meet. Licences can only
be issued to applicants that meet these requirements. For
further details on the licencing requirements please refer
to the respective section above.
United Kingdom: No express provisions contained in
the Gambling Act 2005, however, the Act’s licensing
objectives would need to be adhered to.
Note: GamblingCompliance has attempted to find
current tender documents available on one of the
relevant local authority’s website as a specimen,
however, none are public, if in existence.
Moreover, as noted in Schedule 9 of the Gambling
Act, competition for licences: “Before considering an
application to which this Schedule applies a licensing
authority shall comply with regulations of the Secretary
of State about inviting competing applications.” Therefore
such criteria for casino premises and tender competitions
will be made be the relevant local authority.
Switzerland: See answer 3.1 above.

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August 2014

Category 4. Player Protection and Responsible
Gambling
4.1. Minimum requirements with regard to the
prevention of gambling addiction provided by
law/regulation?

warning, the casino has to exclude the players for a
given time or restrict the number of their visits. If the
casino neglects its obligation to do so, it can be made
responsible for the losses of the player under limited
circumstances.

Austria: Yes.
Denmark: Yes.
United Kingdom: Yes. Licence Codes and Conditions
of Practice apply which stipulate player protection
requirements. These include requirements on combating
problem gambling; access to gambling by children
and young persons; information on problem gambling;
customer interaction; self-exclusion; provisions relating
to credit; and identification of customers, among other
requirements. The LCCP is divided into ‘ordinary code
provisions’ and ‘social responsibility code provisions’ –
with the breach or a social responsibility code provisions
deemed a breach of an operator’s licence condition and
therefore a criminal offence. Many player protection codes
are social responsibility code provisions.
Switzerland: Yes.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, yes. Section
3.8(1) of the Gambling Control Act allows the Registrar to
establish standards concerning the protection of players
and responsible gambling. Additionally, one of the four
purposes of the OLG’s enabling statute is to: “promote
responsible gaming.” (Ontario Lottery and Gaming
Corporation Act, 1999, S.O. 1999, C 12, Sch. L). Nova Scotia
has been progressive in its problem gambling policies.
According to a 2011 responsible gaming strategy released
by the government, the province spends more on problem
gambling — C$6.41 per capita — than any other province,
with the average being C$3.53.

4.2. If yes, what are these requirements?
Austria: Section 25 of the Gambling Act requires that:
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Only persons of 18 years or older who have properly
proofed their identity may enter the casino;
The land-based casino has to store information on the
player’s identity for five years;
A land-based casino has to train its staff with regard to
gambling addiction and to this end has to work with at
least one gambling addiction body;
If a casino observes that EU/EEA citizens gamble in
an excessive manner that is beyond their means, it is
obliged to advise players about their behaviour and to
draw their attention to available gambling addiction
help. If players continue their behaviour despite the

The licensing booklet further requires the licence applicant
to demonstrate which mechanisms it has in place with
regard to the prevention of gambling addiction and its
cooperation with gambling addiction bodies.
Denmark: The Act on Gambling and the Executive Order
on land-based casinos contain certain requirements landbased casinos have to meet with regard to the prevention
of gambling addiction.
According to Article 15 of the Act on Gambling, land-based
casinos are only accessible to persons over the age of 18
years. According to Article 34(1) of the Act on Gambling,
acceptance of stakes in gambling activities from persons
under the age of 18 and other promotion of such persons’
participation in gambling activities is not permitted.
According to the Executive Order on land-based casinos,
casinos can be open daily, from 10.00am to 5.00am.
Specific rules on opening hours may be stipulated in each
licence for the operation of a land-based casino.
According to Section 4, para 11 of the Executive Order on
land-based casinos, a player may not bet less than DKK5
or more than DKK50,000, except for games on gaming
machines where a player may not bet less than DKK1 or
more than DKK20. Each casino has the obligation to set
minimum and maximum bets for each game, which must
be seen at each game table.
The Executive Order on land-based-casinos also adds
requirements for the registration of customers, including
video registration, and for the storing of data. Every guest
must provide identification on request and every casino
must record information about every arriving guest’s
name, address, and date of birth, nationality and an
indication of each guest’s arrival time. The casino must
store this information for five years. The casino must also
make a video recording of the incoming guest, which must
be stored by the casino for two months from the time the
guest visited the casino.
United Kingdom: The national legislation makes it an
offence for someone who is under 18 years old to enter
a casino. According to the Gambling Commissions’ rules
about self-exclusion, licensed operators are required to

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August 2014

“take all reasonable steps to refuse service or to otherwise
prevent an individual who has entered a self-exclusion
agreement from participating in gambling.”
LCCP conditions address: access to gambling by
children and young persons; information on problem
gambling; customer interaction; self-exclusion; provisions
relating to credit; and identification of customers,
among other requirements. These can be extracted by
GamblingCompliance if required.
Switzerland: The detailed rules regarding the prevention
of gambling addiction are to be found in Section 3 of
the Executive Ordinance on Games of Chance and
Gaming Houses entitled ‘Social Protection’. Among
the requirements are that casinos have to draw up a
social concept in which it outlines the measures to be
taken in regards to gambling addiction prevention, the
early recognition of addiction, the training of the staff,
the exclusion from gambling and the collection of data
related to gambling addiction. This section further
provides that casinos must display warning messages
about the risks of addiction, must provide for an adequate
and continuous training of staff, must ban or exclude
players if necessary and must report to the Federal
Gaming Board on their gambling addiction prevention
measures annually. Casinos are prohibited from giving
loans, credits or advances.
Canada: In Ontario, Section 3.8(1) of the Gambling Control
Act allows the Registrar to establish standards concerning
the protection of players and responsible gambling.
Also, the OLG along with its partners have created a
responsible gaming strategy and a responsible gaming
Code of Conduct. (The Alcohol and Gaming Commission
of Ontario, “Registrar’s Standards for Gaming –
November 2013” (AGCO Standards))

Additional questions:
i) Austria: is a casino not obligated to observe how nonEU/EEA citizens gamble? Why not?
There is no guidance in the law with respect to non-EU/
EEA nationals. The law explicitly provides this obligation
of casinos in regards to citizens of the EU/EEA. According
to Article 25 (3) of the Gambling Act (unofficial translation)
“If in case of a citizen of a member state of the European
Union or a member state of the European Economic
Area there is evidence to suggest that the frequency and
intensity of their gambling behaviour during the time
period during which they play with this frequency and
intensity, endangers their subsistence level” the casino
is obliged to undertake the measures listed above in this
report. (We have sent a request to the regulator to find out
the reasons behind limiting this player protection measure
to the citizens of the EU or the EEA, this response remains
outstanding).

ii) Austria: it states that if the casino neglects to exclude
players for a given time or restrict the number of their
visits (when they have observed that a player gambles in
an excessive manner) that they can be made responsible
for the losses of the player under limited circumstances.
By whom is this assessment made? Based on which
criteria? What are the limited circumstances?
According to Article 25 (3) of the Austrian Gambling Act
the casino can be made liable for the losses suffered by
the player during the period the casino has neglected
its obligation. The liability has to be asserted in court
within three years after the loss has been sustained. The
casino management is not liable if under questioning the
player provides false or incomplete information and the
incorrectness or incompleteness of the information is not
obvious or if the casino’s negligence is only minor.

4.3. In particular, is there any requirement for
the casinos to inform their customers about
available addiction treatment?
Austria: No. The Gambling Act does not expressly contain
such requirement. However the licensing booklet requires
the licence applicant to demonstrate which mechanisms
it has in place with regard to the prevention of gambling
addiction and its cooperation with gambling addiction
bodies.
Denmark: Yes. Section 5(5) of the Executive Order
on land-based casinos requires that if a player has
(voluntarily) excluded himself from participation in a
licensee’s game, the licensee shall inform the player
about the possibility of counselling and treatment of
problem gambling in a Danish treatment centre.
United Kingdom: Yes. While the Gambling Act 2005
does not expressly contain such requirement, these are
found in underlying codes. The LCCP condition (ordinary
code provision) 3.5.2.1, provides that before a player
self-excludes himself, licensees are required to “provide
or make available sufficient information about what
the consequences of self-exclusion are”. In addition, in
condition (social responsibility code provision) 3.3 of the
LCCP (“Information on how to gamble responsibly and
help for problem gamblers”), the licence holders are
further required to cover information about responsible
gambling information to customers. The information
needs to cover and be directed at all customers “whether
or not licensees also make available material which is
directed specifically at customers who may be ‘problem
gamblers”:
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79

“any measures provided by the licensee to help
individuals monitor or control their gambling, such
as restricting the duration of a gambling session or
the amount of money they can spend
timers or other forms of reminders or ‘reality checks’

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

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where available
self-exclusion options
information about the availability of further help or
advice.”

Moreover, for gambling premises, which would include
casinos, condition 3.3.1.4 states: “For gambling premises,
information must be available in all areas where gambling
facilities are provided and adjacent to ATMs where
these are not located in a gambling area. As a minimum,
information must be displayed prominently on posters
appropriate to the size and layout of the premises and
contained in leaflets that may be taken away. Licensees
must take all reasonable steps to ensure that this
information is also readily accessible in locations which
enable the customer to obtain it discreetly.”
Switzerland: Yes. Article 38 of the Executive Ordinance
on Games of Chance and Gaming Houses provides that
casinos must make available easily understandable and
easily accessible information on the risks of the game,
measures to help, such as the opportunity for exclusion,
the address of places where addiction help can be found
as well as self-assessment material.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, yes. Sections 2.3
and 2.4 of the AGCO Standards:
“2.3 Information about the risks of gambling and where
to obtain additional information or assistance shall be
made readily available to all patrons.
Requirement – At a minimum:
1. Responsible gambling materials and information
about obtaining help, including Ontario’s Responsible
Gambling Help Line, shall be available, visible and
accessible to all patrons.
2. Information about setting betting limits, if applicable,
shall be made available to all patrons.
3. Information about self-exclusion programs shall be
available, visible and accessible to all patrons.
4. Advertising and marketing materials shall, where
effective, contain a responsible gambling message.
5. All information related to responsible gambling shall
be regularly and periodically reviewed and updated
to ensure that it is accurate, up to date and in line with
industry good practice.”
“2.4 Patrons shall be provided with meaningful and
accurate information to enable them to make informed
choices.
Requirements – At a minimum:
1. Meaning and accurate information on the rules of play
shall be clearly stated and made available to patrons.
2. Meaningful and accurate information on the odds
of winning, payout odds or returns to patrons shall be
clearly stated and made available to patrons.”

August 2014

4.4. In particular, are casinos required
to register their customers and observe
and analyse the behaviour of players and
intervening in (potential) risk behaviour of a
player?
Austria: Section 25 of the Gambling Act requires that
land-based casinos have to make sure that only persons
of 18 years or older who have properly proven their
identity may enter the casino. The land-based casino has
to store information on the player’s identity for five years.
Denmark: The Executive Order on land-based casinos
determines requirements for the registration of customers,
including video registration, and for the storing of data.
Every guest must provide identification on request and
every casino must record information about every arriving
guest’s name, address, and date of birth, nationality and
an indication of each guest’s arrival time. The casino must
store this information for five years. The casino must also
make a video recording of the incoming guest, which must
be stored by the casino for two months from the time the
guest visited the casino. However the gambling legislation
on land-based casinos does not contain an express
requirement that the casinos have to observe and analyse
the behaviour of players and intervening in (potential) risk
behaviour of a player.
United Kingdom: The Money Laundering Regulations
2007 specify for casinos at Section 10:
(1) A casino must establish and verify the identity of—
(a) all customers to whom the casino makes facilities for
gaming available—
(i) before entry to any premises where such facilities
are provided; or
(ii) where the facilities are for remote gaming, before
access is given to such facilities; or
(b) if the specified conditions are met, all customers
who, in the course of any period of 24 hours—
(i) purchase from, or exchange with, the casino chips
with a total value of 2,000 euro or more;
(ii) pay the casino 2,000 or more for the use of gaming
machines; or
(iii) pay to, or stake with, the casino 2,000 euro or
more in connection with facilities for remote gaming.
(2) The specified conditions are—
(a) the casino verifies the identity of each customer
before or immediately after such purchase, exchange,
payment or stake takes place, and
(b) the Gambling Commission is satisfied that the casino
has appropriate procedures in place to monitor and
record—
(i) the total value of chips purchased from or
exchanged with the casino;
(ii) the total money paid for the use of gaming
machines; or

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August 2014

(iii )the total money paid or staked in connection with
facilities for remote gaming, by each customer.
Section 19 Money Laundering Regulations 2007 on
record keeping specifies a five year time period for the
retention of records.
Moreover, LCCP condition (social responsibility code
provision) 3.5.1.6 requires licence holders to take
measures to ensure that those individuals who have
self-excluded cannot have access to gambling. These
measures include: a) appropriate record kept of those
who have self-excluded themselves (name, address, other
details and any membership or account details) b) photo
identification and a signature c) staff training so that each
staff can enforce the system and d) to ensure that those
players who are found on the gambling area are removed
from the premises.
There is also a LCCP condition (social responsibility code
provision) 3.4.1 on customer interaction. This states that:
“Licensees must put into effect policies and procedures
for customer interaction where they have concerns that
a customer’s behaviour may indicate problem gambling.
The policies must include:
a identification of the appropriate level of management
who may initiate customer interaction and the
procedures for doing so
b the types of behaviour that will be logged/reported
to the appropriate level of staff and which may trigger
customer interaction at an appropriate moment
c the circumstances in which consideration should be
given to refusing service to customers and/or barring
them from the operator’s gambling premises
d training for all staff on their respective responsibilities,
in particular so that they know who is designated to deal
with problem gambling issues.”
Switzerland: Article 38 (2) of the Executive Ordinance
on Games of Chance and Gaming Houses stipulates that
the casino has to draw up monitoring criteria (a check
list), with help of which players, who are under a risk of
gambling addiction can be identified and the necessary
measures can be taken. Casinos must record their
observations and the measures taken.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, yes. Section 2.5 of
the AGCO Standards:
“2.5 Support shall be provided to persons showing signs
of potentially problematic gambling behavior.
Requirements – At a minimum:
1. All employees who interact with players shall receive
training in a Registrar-approved program designed to
identify and respond appropriately to players who may
be showing signs of problem gambling.

2. Players shall be provided with easily accessible
contact information of at least one organization
dedicated to treating and assisting problem gamblers.
3. OLG shall develop and enforce responsible gambling
policies, procedures and training, ensure they are
available, kept up to date and relevant, and that the
Operator complies with them.
4. Responsible gambling policies shall be reviewed
periodically for effectiveness.”
In Nova Scotia, there is a system called “My-Play” that is
mandatory for VLT players. The system monitors a player’s
activity, including in-progress activity and historical
activity, lets players set limits on money and time, and lets
players set cooling off periods.

4.5. Does national legislation provide for
specific procedures which casinos have
to follow with regard to the prevention of
gambling addiction?
Austria: Yes. Section 25 of the Gambling Act requires that:
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Only persons of 18 years or older who have properly
proofed their identity may enter the casino;
The land-based casino has to store information on the
player’s identity for five years;
A land-based casino has to train its staff with regard to
gambling addiction and to this end has to work with at
least one gambling addiction body;
If a casino observes that EU/EEA citizens gamble in
an excessive manner that is beyond their means, it is
obliged to advise players about their behaviour and to
draw their attention to available gambling addiction
help. If players continue their behaviour despite the
warning, the casino has to exclude the players for a
given time or restrict the number of their visits. If the
casino neglects its obligation to do so, it can be made
responsible for the losses of the player under limited
circumstances.

The licensing booklet further requires the licence applicant
to demonstrate which mechanisms it has in place with
regard to the prevention of gambling addiction and its
cooperation with gambling addiction bodies.
Denmark: Yes. Section 5(5) of the Executive Order on
land-based casinos requires that if a player has excluded
himself (voluntarily) from participation in a licensee’s
game, the licensee shall inform the player about the
possibility of counselling and treatment of problem
gambling in a Danish treatment centre.
United Kingdom: No. The Gambling Act 2005 does not
expressly contain such requirement. However, the Licence
conditions and codes of practice (LCCP) condition (social
responsibility code) 3.4.1. provides that licence holders are
required to adopt “policies and procedures for customer

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

interaction where they have concern that a customer’s
behaviour may indicate problem gambling”. These
policies include: “an identification of the appropriate level
of management who may initiate customer interaction
and the procedures for doing so; the types of behaviour
that will be logged/reported to the appropriate level
of staff and which may trigger customer interaction at
an appropriate moment; the circumstances in which
consideration should be given to refusing service to
customers and/or barring them from the operator’s
gambling premises; and training for all staff on their
respective responsibilities, in particular so that they know
who is designated to deal with problem gambling issues.”
Switzerland: Yes. The legislation provides for the
procedures of banning and excluding players. Other
measures are required to be outlined in the social concept
of the operator.
Canada: No. Canadian federal law does not set up specific
responsible gaming requirements for provinces to follow.

4.6. Is there a national exclusion list for players
who are addicted to gambling?
Austria: No.
Denmark: Yes.
United Kingdom: No. However, the LCCP condition
(ordinary code provision) 3.5.2.8 provides that licence
holders “should retain the records relating to a selfexclusion agreement at least until the agreement has
been formally ended.”
According to the UK Parliament’s study: “The Gambling
Act 2005: A Bet Worth Taking?” (2012) conducted by the
Culture, Media and Sport Committee, on self-exclusion:
“One way in which individuals can attempt to tackle any
problem gambling behaviour is by opting to be denied
access to gambling premises—so-called ‘self-exclusion’.
The ability of customers to self-exclude from gambling
premises is a significant feature of programmes to tackle
problem gambling behaviour. The Gambling Commission
also requires all except ancillary and software licence
holders to provide information pertaining to self-exclusion
options.
However, there is currently no nationwide, crossindustry system for customer self-exclusion. Some of the
international regulators from whom we heard evidence
called into question the effectiveness of current (off-line)
self-exclusion systems. Graham White, Chairman of the
Jersey Gambling Commission said:
“You can walk into one casino and self-exclude—a week
and two days later, you can go into another one. You
can go into a bookmaker and self-exclude—a week and

August 2014

two days later, you can go into William Hill as opposed
to Coral, for example. That is the weakness of the
exclusion system.
... We recognise the significant practical challenges
that introducing a national “universal” self-exclusion
system would involve, including confidentiality and legal
issues. However, the Government should support the
development of a system which would allow a customer
to self-exclude from all forms of gambling regulated by
the Gambling Commission.” (at paragraphs 78 and 81)
Regarding the LCCP, condition 3.5.1.3 (social responsibility
code provision) requires licence holders to “take steps to
remove the name and details of a self-excluded individual
from any marketing databases used by the company
or group (or otherwise flag that person as an individual
to whom marketing material must not be sent) , within
two days of receiving the completed self-exclusion
notification”.
Switzerland: Yes.
Canada: Differs by province. There is not a national selfexclusion list in Canada.
All gaming sites in Ontario maintain a self-exclusion
program. The program applies across all gaming sites
and is indefinite in nature; however, one can apply to
be removed from the list after six months. An individual
may exclude himself or herself, personally; no one can
exclude another person. In 2011, Ontario rolled out facial
recognition systems to help enforce self-exclusion bans.
Self-exclusion materials can be found at http://www.olg.
ca/about/responsible_gaming/self_exclusion.jsp.

4.7. What is the procedure for players to get
included into this list?
Austria: Denmark: Section 5 of the Executive Order on land-based
casinos states that anyone may ask the casino to register
himself, upon application, and information to the effect
that the person in question must be refused admission to
the casino. The request can be written and in person and
must come from the relevant person himself. Registered
persons may ask to have the registration deleted.
Requests for deletion take effect eight days after receipt of
the request by the casino.
United Kingdom: According to the Gambling
Commission, a customer who has decided to self-exclude
himself should be able to do so immediately and he
needs to complete a self-exclusion notification. The selfexclusion lasts for at least six months.

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August 2014

Switzerland: Article 22 of the Federal Law on Games of
Chance and Gaming Houses stipulates that the casino
bans players of which based on their own perceptions or
information received from third parties the casino knows
or must assume that they are:
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GamblingCompliance Commentary
United Kingdom: While currently there is no
nationwide exclusion scheme, the UK casino industry
is aiming to “break the gold standard” with a new
national exclusion scheme. The following insight is
from a recent GamblingCompliance report on this
development from July 1, 2014:

In debt or are unable to meet their financial
obligations.
Risks bets which are not in proportion with their
income or their wealth.
Players who interfere with the ordinary operation of
the game.
A player can choose to self-exclude himself at any
time as well.

“Political pressure in the UK is pushing different
sectors to show they are boosting efforts to help
problem gamblers and strengthen policies and
standards.
The National Casino Forum (NCF) has signed British
technology company Software for Data Analysis
(SDA) to develop the Playing Safe SENSE program.

Canada: Differs by jurisdiction. In Ontario, if you choose
to register for Self-Exclusion, an individual must have a
private meeting with a member of OLG staff who will help
the individual through the process. The individual can
attend the meeting on their own or bring someone with
you—like a family member or friend. At the meeting, the
individual’s personal information will be recorded and
picture taken for registration. To complete the process a
signature is required.

Under the scheme, which will be piloted from the
fourth quarter, players wishing to self-exclude will be
able to do so from any of the UK’s casinos for the first
time.
Information about self-excluders will only be
searchable by registered users and care providers, but
will be shared between casinos operated by different
companies in the same area.

An individual can also sign up for self-exclusion at a
problem gambling or debt counsellor’s office. This way,
they are guaranteed immediate, confidential support from
trained professionals. Off-Site registration is offered on
specific days each month, and an appointment can be set
up by contacting the Security department of a local OLG
slots or casino facility.

The NCF said that if the pilot proves successful, it
would introduce the database to all its members from
2015.
Roy Ramm, the chairman of Playing Safe, told
GamblingCompliance: “The entire casino sector has
come together behind this initiative; it is voluntary and
nobody has compelled us to do it.

4.8. Requirement for casinos to check player’s
name against the national exclusion list before
the player can enter the casino?

“We don’t just want this to be the casino industry gold
standard; if we can make this work effectively it will
be the first time something like this has been done by
the industry itself rather than being imposed.”

Austria: Denmark: Yes.

Offering self-exclusion is a requirement for every
casino operator and each has their own individual
scheme.

United Kingdom: No. There is no such national list in
existence to check.
Switzerland: Yes. (Art. 28 (1) of the Executive Ordinance
on Games of Chance and Gaming Houses)

The NCF, formed in 2009, said it cherry picked the
best parts from each to combine and sit inside a
central database.

Canada: Differs by jurisdiction and there is no nationwide
list. In Ontario, yes, there is a province wide self-exclusion
list. Section 2.6(5) of the AGCO Standards: “5. Operators
shall take active steps to identify and, if required, remove
self-excluded persons when they are found to be in
breach of their self-evaluation agreement.” Ontario was
one of the first provinces to begin using facial recognition
software to help keep excluded players out of gaming
areas.

Remote operators hope to have a separate selfexclusion programme in place “by Christmas” to
coincide with the launch of the UK’s new online
gambling licensing regime after calls for better
protection of problem gamblers in parliament.
Last week the UK Gambling Commission criticised
online bookmaker bet365 for weaknesses in its
player protection controls found in 2013, and said

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August 2014

investigations were ongoing against other operators.
The commission rebuked casino chain Aspers and
several other high-profile operators last year for
failings, and said it would take uncompromising
action against any gambling company it felt was
slacking in player protection.
Tracy Damestani, chief executive of the NCF, said that
Playing Safe SENSE had been the result of two years’
intense and meticulous hard work.
She told GamblingCompliance: “This is not a kneejerk reaction to anything coming out of the Gambling
Commission or the Department for Culture, Media
and Sport, it is a sincere, consistent approach that
operators have been striving to reach.
“It has required a huge commitment of time and effort
from all operators to agree how the system should
work and to be prepared to accept that all companies
will have to change what they do to a greater or
lesser extent to make the scheme effective.”
Labour’s shadow minister for sport, Clive Efford, who
has called for greater controls on player protection,
said: “The move to improve self-exclusion by the
casino industry is welcome and the Gambling
Commission should look at what the casino industry
is doing to see whether it can be applied in other
parts of the industry, particularly online gambling.”
Efford’s sharpest criticism over problem gambling
has previously been directed at bookmakers as part
of his wider campaign against the high-stake roulette
gaming machines found in their betting shops.
Ramm said there were “unquestionably” pressures on
casinos as well.
He said: “The whole debate about gaming, and
seeing things that were once upon a time only found
in casinos, like roulette for example in high-street
venues, has made the whole issue of gambling more
of a hot potato.
“Any change in regulation now needs to be
completely supported with evidence that it is not
going to cause undue harm, we do need change in
the industry.”
The Playing Safe system will circulate photographs
and biographical information, as well as making
use of information from companies’ loyalty cards,
vouchers and other marketing tools.
This will allow automatic checks to be made of the
central system to identify self-excluders who may
breach the agreement.

Malcolm Bruce, director and co-founder of Gambling
Integrity Services consultancy firm, said the industry
was “unfortunately on the back foot” about player
protection, but he saw the initiative as “good news”.

related harm. The aim is to stop people getting into
problems with their gambling, and ensure that those that
do develop problems receive fast and effective treatment
and support.

Bruce said: “Seeing as self-excluders are likely to
be folk with an established and possibly severe
gambling problem, it is really important that links to
care agencies are established as part of this scheme,
and that excluders are actively encouraged to seek
help so that if and when they return they will be
better able to play responsibly.

The Responsible Gambling Trust raises a minimum of
£5million each year from the gambling industry operating
in Britain within a voluntary (donation based) system and
funds research, education, prevention and treatment
services.”

“Self-exclusion is a pretty blunt tool however
and really needs to be rigorously enforced with a
national scheme run by the government, so that
casino excluders don’t go tripping off to the bookies,
arcades, internet or bingo halls in desperation.”
The Gambling Commission said it backed the scheme
and was very supportive of proactive new ways to
protect gamblers who recognise they need help.”

4.9. Relationship between casino operator and
addiction care professionals
Austria: Section 25 of the Gambling Act requires that
a land-based casino has to train its staff with regard to
gambling addiction and to this end has to work with at
least one gambling addiction care body.
The licensing booklet further requires that the licence
applicant has to demonstrate its relationship with
addiction care bodies, if any.
Denmark: No express provisions contained in the Danish
gambling legislation concerning land-based casinos.
United Kingdom: No express provisions contained in
the Gambling Act 2005, however, the LCCP condition
(social responsibility code provision) 3.1 “Combating
problem gambling” require licensees to have “policies and
procedures for socially responsible gambling must include
but need not be confined to:... a commitment to and
how they will contribute to public education on the risks
of gambling and how to gamble safely.” Moreover, the
Gambling Commission requires “ all licensed operators,
including society lotteries, to make a contribution towards
research, education and treatment of problem gamblers.”
The Responsible Gambling Trust is funded by
contributions from the gambling industry. It notes that
it is the UK’s “leading charity in the UK committed to
minimising gambling-related harm. As an independent
national charity funded by donations from the gambling
industry, the Responsible Gambling Trust funds education,
prevention and treatment services and commissions
research to broaden public understanding of gambling-

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August 2014

Switzerland: The Executive Ordinance on Games of
Chance and Gaming Houses, Article 37(2) provides that
for the implementation of the social concept, the casino
works in cooperation with an addiction prevention centre
and a rehabilitation centre. The casino can also cooperate
with other casinos or with third parties for this purpose.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, two percent of
gross slot machine revenue from casinos and slots at
racetracks fund the province’s problem-gambling strategy.
In particular, the Ontario government collaborates
with the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health, the
Responsible Gaming Council, the Ontario Problem
Gambling Research Centre, among other addiction care
professionals, to carry-out the province’s responsible
gaming strategy.

4.10. Required cooperation between the
licensee and addiction care professionals and/
or the licensing authority and the addiction
care professionals?
Austria: Yes. Section 25 of the Gambling Act requires
that a land-based casino has to train its staff with regard
to gambling addiction and to this end has to work with at
least one gambling addiction care body. Also the licensing
booklet states that the licensee is required to cooperate
with the department of addiction care in the Ministry of
Finance.
Denmark: Yes. Section 5(5) of the Executive Order on
land-based casinos requires that if a player has excluded
himself from participation in a licensee’s game, the
licensee shall inform the player about the possibility of
counselling and treatment of problem gambling in a
Danish treatment centre.
United Kingdom: No. No express provisions contained
in the Gambling Act 2005. However, LCCP condition
(social responsibility code provision) 3.1 “Combating
problem gambling” require licensees to have “policies and
procedures for socially responsible gambling must include
but need not be confined to:... a commitment to and
how they will contribute to public education on the risks
of gambling and how to gamble safely.” Moreover, the
Gambling Commission requires “ all licensed operators,
including society lotteries, to make a contribution towards

research, education and treatment of problem gamblers.”
Switzerland: Refer to the answer above at 4.9.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, the Provincial
Problem Gambling Strategy requires the government to
work closely with external services.

4.11. Does national legislation require licensees
to contribute financially with regard to
the financing of addiction care and/or the
prevention of gambling addiction?
Austria: No express provisions in this regard (legal
obligation) contained in the Gambling Act.
Denmark: No express provisions concerning land-based
casino licensees contained in the Danish gambling
legislation. However, for 2013 the Danish Finance Act
allocated funds for the research and treatment of problem
gambling. On this the Danish Gambling Authority has
noted: “In 2012 about DKK 20 million from the proceeds
of the duty on gaming machines (AWP) was distributed to
research and treatment of problem gambling, of which
2/3 was given to treatment. In 2013 the funds for this is
allocated directly in the Finance Act.”
United Kingdom: Yes. The Gambling Act 2005 Section
123, provides for a levy to be introduced on licensed
operators to provide financial assistant to the addiction
of gambling as well as any other forms of harm which is
related to gambling. Currently this levy is voluntary but
can be made mandatory.
According to the UK Parliament’s study: “The Gambling
Act 2005: A Bet Worth Taking?” (2012) conducted by the
Culture, Media and Sport Committee, on self-exclusion:
“Under the 2005 Act, a voluntary levy was introduced on
the gambling industry to fund research, education and
treatment (RET) programmes to tackle problem gambling.
There is provision under the 2005 Act to make the levy
mandatory if the Government were to decide that not
enough money was being raised from the industry on a
voluntary basis. Some witnesses argued that there was
cause to introduce a compulsory levy on the gambling
industry on the basis that it was not giving enough money
to research, education and treatment programmes.
Others argued that, so far, the simple threat of a
mandatory levy—described by the Evangelical Alliance as
a “Damocles sword”—had proved sufficient incentive for
the industry to provide the funding required.
...The voluntary levy for research, education and treatment
has thus far been successful at raising the target of £5
million per annum. An important lever for obtaining
funds from the gambling industry is the potential for
reputational damage if insufficient monies were raised
or if a compulsory levy were deemed necessary. While

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August 2014

it is important that the option of enforcing a compulsory
research, education and treatment levy be maintained, we
recommend that the current voluntary levy is continued.
However, should one or more sectors of the gambling
industry fall short in their duty to fund research, education
and treatment programmes, the Government should
implement a compulsory levy on those sectors.” (at
paragraphs 82 and 84)

Switzerland: No express provisions contained in the
national legislation. The national legislation does
not require the state to contribute financially with
specific regard to addiction care or the prevention of
gambling addiction. However, Article 106(6) of the Swiss
Constitution provides that a certain part of revenues
from gambling is to be used for charitable purposes, in
particular in the fields of culture, social projects and sport.

In addition LCCP condition (social responsibility code
provision) 3.1 “Combating problem gambling” require
licensees to “contribute to public education on the risks
of gambling and how to gamble safely.” Moreover, the
Gambling Commission requires “ all licensed operators,
including society lotteries, to make a contribution towards
research, education and treatment of problem gamblers.”

Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, two percent of
gross slot machine revenue from casinos and slots at
racetracks fund the province’s problem-gambling strategy.

Switzerland: No.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, two percent of
gross slot revenue funds the Provincial Problem Gambling
Strategy.

4.12. Does national legislation require the
state to contribute financially with regard to
the financing of addiction care and/or the
prevention of gambling addiction?
Austria: No express provisions contained in the Gambling
Act.
Denmark: No express provisions contained in the
Danish gambling legislation concerning land-based
casinos. The explanatory notes to the Act on Gambling,
however, suggest that the Gambling Authority must
seek information in connection with the various research
projects in the area of gambling addiction, inter alia by
participating in reference groups linked to the projects.
Furthermore, the Danish Gambling Authority must
maintain close contact with the various treatment
institutions and stay updated on preventive measures
in the area. Also there must be links on the Gambling
Authority’s website to the various treatment institutions
and information about gambling addiction that may be
relevant to the players. Furthermore the explanatory notes
to the Act on Gambling assume that by the liberalisation
of the online gambling market the gambling area will
get an additional approx. DKK 12 million to be used for
prevention and treatment of gambling addiction and
for research into the area. This will strengthen the entire
gambling addiction area and particularly the prevention
area which has not previously had a share in these funds.
United Kingdom: No express provisions contained in the
Gambling Act 2005. However, according to the Gambling
Commission, fundraising targets for the gambling industry
are agreed between the government and the Responsible
Gambling Strategy Board.

4.13. Does national legislation provide for any
suitability requirements a casino’s staff have to
meet? In the affirmative, which?
Austria: Yes. Section 27 of the Gambling Act states that
a land-based casino’s staff is not allowed to purchase or
acquire shares from the casino licensee and that the staff
may not present any gifts or donations from players in the
casino.
Denmark: Yes. The day to the day operation of a landbased casino must be conducted by a licence holder (in
case of a natural person holding the licence) or a manager
(in case of a legal person holding the licence). According
to Section 37 of the Act on Gambling the regulatory
authority shall approve the manager prior to employment.
It is a condition for obtaining such approval that the
manager is 21 or older, is not under guardianship and has
not been convicted of a criminal offence that gives reason
to believe that there is a clear risk of abuse of the access
to work with gambling. The manager cannot be approved
if the manager or others who can exert a controlling
influence on the manager’s work has behaved in such
a way that it gives reason to assume that the gambling
establishment will not be operated in an acceptable
manner.
According to Section 39 of the Act on Gambling also an
employee at a land-based casino shall be approved by
the regulatory authority prior to the employment. It is a
condition for obtaining such approval that the employee
is 21 or older, is not under guardianship and has not
been convicted of a criminal offence that gives reason to
believe that there is a clear risk of abuse of the access to
work with gambling. An employee cannot be approved
if the conduct of the employee or others who can exert a
controlling influence have behaved in such a way that it
gives reason to assume that the employee will not carry
out his work in an acceptable manner.
United Kingdom: Yes. The Gambling Act, at Section 55,
contains some provisions on employment in casinos. The
section states that:
Employment in casino, &c.

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August 2014

(1) A person commits an offence if he employs a child or
young person to perform any function on premises in
respect of which any of the following have effect—
(a) a casino premises licence,
(b) a betting premises licence, and
(c) an adult gaming centre premises licence.
(2) But subsection (1) does not apply—
(a) to employment at a time when no activity is being
carried on in reliance on the premises licence, or
(b) to employment on a part of premises which are
being used for a regional casino at a time when that
part is not being used for the provision of facilities for
gambling.
(3) The Secretary of State may for the purposes of
subsection (2) by regulations make provision for—
(a) distinguishing between one part of premises and
another;
(b) determining when use is being made of a part of
premises.
(4) A young person commits an offence if he is employed
in contravention of subsection (1).
Moreover, certain key officials at casinos would require
personal management licences (PMLs), ensuring probity
and to take all reasonable steps so as not to put a licensee
at risk of breaching licence conditions. A specific section of
the LCCP apply to PMLs (Part III).
The LCCP condition 10.1.1, in relation to personal licence
holders, they “must only permit tipping of staff holding
personal licences where a tronc system is operated; that is
to say, where all tips are pooled and distributed amongst
the employees concerned. A separate tronc may be
operated for each of a number of categories of licensed
staff”.
The LCCP also contained various provisions on staff
training.
GamblingCompliance Commentary
The UK’s HMRC define a tronc as: “A tronc is a special
pay arrangement used to distribute tips, gratuities
and service charges. Commonly a tronc is a central
pool of funds in which some or all of the tips and
service charges paid by customers are distributed
to employees. How such arrangements work is
entirely a matter for the business. How amounts
paid from the tronc are distributed is a matter for the
troncmaster, tronc committee (if one exists) and or
tronc members.”

2 gaming assistants. They have their own licensing
requirements set forth in the Gaming Control Act. In
particular, Section 11 allows the Registrar of the AGCO
to deny registration to a gaming assistant if: (a) there
are reasonable grounds to believe that the applicant
will not act as a gaming assistant in accordance with
law, or with integrity, honesty, or in the public interest,
having regard to the past conduct of the applicant or
persons interested in the applicant; or (b) the applicant is
carrying on activities that are, or will be, if the applicant
is registered, in contravention of [the Gaming Control]
Act, the regulations, the standards and requirements
established by the Registrar under section 3.8 or the terms
of the registration.
In Nova Scotia, the Video Lottery Retailer Responsible
Gambling Training Program is set up to educate video
lottery retailers and their staff about responsible gambling
and how to support players in making informed decisions
when playing video lottery. This year, according to the
Nova Scotia Provincial Lotteries & Casino Corporation,
100 percent of video lottery retailers have completed the
annual training.

4.14. Any minimum requirements with regard to
the training of staff (in order to timely observe
risky/obsessive player behaviour)?
Austria: Yes. Section 25 of the Gambling Act requires
that a land-based casino has to train its staff with regard
to gambling addiction and to this end has to work with at
least one gambling addiction care body. Also the licensing
booklet states that a licence applicant has to demonstrate
whether or not it has any training for staff in place and give
details on the special training, if applicable.
Denmark: Yes. The gambling legislation on land-based
casinos contains requirements regarding casino staff
(for example, an employee may not engage in games at
the casino). However the gambling legislation does not
contain an express provision on the training of staff with
regard to the prevention of player addiction.
United Kingdom: Yes. The LCCP contains various
provisions relating to staff training. Regarding customer
interaction, LCCP provision 3.4.1 states that:
“Licensees must put into effect policies and procedures
for customer interaction where they have concerns that
a customer’s behaviour may indicate problem gambling.
The policies must include:
a identification of the appropriate level of
management who may initiate customer interaction
and the procedures for doing so
b the types of behaviour that will be logged/reported
to the appropriate level of staff and which may trigger
customer interaction at an appropriate moment

Switzerland: No express provisions contained in the
legislation.
Canada: Differs by province Ontario’s Gaming Control
Act defines Category 1 gaming assistants and Category

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c the circumstances in which consideration should be
given to refusing service to customers and/or barring
them from the operator’s gambling premises
d training for all staff on their respective
responsibilities, in particular so that they know who is
designated to deal with problem gambling issues.”
Switzerland: Yes. The Executive Ordinance on Games
of Chance and Gaming Houses, Article 39 provides
that those responsible for the social concept as well
as those involved in the gambling operations or its
supervision must complete a basic training and a further
annual education courses on gambling addiction. Other
employees receive training suitable for their role, which
enables them to detect the early signs of gambling
addiction and to apply the procedure provided for in the
social concept.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, regulations
require training. Section 2.5(1) of the AGCO Standards:
“1. All employees who interact with players shall receive
training in a Registrar-approved program designed to
identify and respond appropriately to players who may
be showing signs of problem gambling.”
In Nova Scotia, the Video Lottery Retailer Responsible
Gambling Training Program is set up to educate video
lottery retailers and their staff about responsible gambling
and how to support players in making informed decisions
when playing video lottery. This year, according to the
Nova Scotia Provincial Lotteries & Casino Corporation,
100 percent of video lottery retailers have completed the
annual training.

4.15. Do casinos have to monitor a player’s
gambling behaviour (money invested, time
spent in the casino, etc)?
Austria: No. However, Section 25 of the Gambling Act
requires that land-based casinos have to check the
players’ identity before they enter the casino. Also a landbased casino has to train its staff with regard to gambling
addiction and to this end has to work with at least one
gambling addiction body. Furthermore, if a casino
observes that EU/EEA citizens gamble in an excessive
manner that is beyond their means, it is obliged to advise
players about their behaviour and to draw their attention
to available gambling addiction help. If the players
continue their behaviour despite the warning, the casino
has to exclude the players for a given time or restrict the
number of their visits. If the casino neglects its obligation
to do so, it can be made responsible for the losses of the
player under limited circumstances.

August 2014

storing of data. Every guest must provide identification on
request and every casino must record information about
every arriving guest’s name, address, and date of birth,
nationality and an indication of each guest’s arrival time.
The casino must store this information for five years. The
casino must also make a video recording of the incoming
guest, which must be stored by the casino for two months
from the time the guest visited the casino.
However the gambling legislation on land-based casinos
does not contain an express requirement that the casinos
have to monitor a player’s gambling behaviour (money
invested, time spent in the casino, etc).
United Kingdom: Yes. The LCCP provision (social
responsibility code provision) 3.4.1.1 stipulates that some
of the measures licence holders are required to implement
is “the types of behaviour that will be logged/reported
to the appropriate level of staff and which may trigger
customer interaction at an appropriate moment”.
However, no specific indicators such as money invested
are mentioned.
Switzerland: Yes. Article 22 of the Federal Law on Games
of Chance and Gaming Houses contains the provisions
regarding the exclusion of players. The provision states
that casinos are obliged to ban players if among other
sources based on their own observations they know
or must assume that the player suffers from gambling
addiction. From this provision follows that casinos must
monitor their players.
Furthermore, Article 28 (4) of the Executive Ordinance
on Games of Chance and Gaming Houses stipulates
that the casino in order to create a loyalty card or for
marketing purposes may in particular acquire and evaluate
the following data according to the prior notification
and consent of the casino visitor: name, date of birth
and address; type and number of the official identity
document; date and time of visit, the games used and
stakes wagered.
Canada: Differs by province.
In Ontario, yes. Section 2.12 of the AGCO Standards
requires players must have the means to track the passage
of time. Further, Section 2.11 requires “[g]ames shall not
encourage players to chase their losses, or increase the
amount they have decided to gambling, or continue to
gamble after they have indicated that they want to stop.”
In Nova Scotia, there is a system called “My-Play” that is
mandatory for VLT players. The system monitors a player’s
activity, including in-progress activity and historical
activity, lets players set limits on money and time, and lets
players set cooling off periods.

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

4.15. Are casinos allowed to grant loans to
players?
Austria: No express provisions contained in the Gambling
Act.
Denmark: No. According to Section 35 of the Act on
Gambling a licence holder shall not extend credit to the
player for participation in gambling activities.
United Kingdom: No. Section 81 of the Gambling Act
2005 deals with credits and inducements. With respect to
land-based casinos this section states that:
“A non-remote casino operating licence or a non-remote
bingo operating licence shall by virtue of this subsection
be subject to the condition that the licensee may not—
(a) give credit in connection with gambling, or
(b) participate in, arrange, permit or knowingly facilitate
the giving of credit in connection with gambling.”
While not credit, but rewards (such as reward schemes),
LCCP provision 5.1.2 (ordinary code provision) provides
that licence holders “should only offer incentive or reward
schemes in which the benefit available is proportionate to
the type and level of customers’ gambling.”
Moreover, LCCP ordinary code provision 3.8.1 relates to
money-lending in casinos. It states that:
“1 Licensees should take steps to prevent systematic or
organised money lending between customers on their
premises.
2 While the nature of those steps will depend to some
extent on the layout and size of the premises, they
should cover matters such as:
a systems for monitoring for such activity
b instructions to staff concerning what they should do
if they spot what they believe to be significant money
lending and to managers about the ways in which they
should handle and act on any such lending
c excluding from the premises, either temporarily or
permanently as appropriate, any person whom the
evidence suggests has become involved in organised
or systematic money lending.
3 There should be appropriate arrangements in place
to cover any cases where it appears that the lending
may be commercial in nature or may involve money
laundering. In the latter case, the requirements in
respect of reporting suspicious transactions must be
followed. In all cases where the operator encounters
systematic or organised money lending, a report should
be made to the Commission.”

Executive Ordinance on Games of Chance and Gaming
Houses, which states that “the granting of loans, credits
and advances is forbidden in the casino”.
Canada: Differs by province. In most Canadian provinces,
casinos may not offer credit to players. This includes
Quebec, Ontario and Manitoba.

4.16. Any policy with regard to the prevention
of gambling addiction specifically targeting
young adults (18-24)?
Austria: No express provisions contained in the Gambling
Act.
Denmark: No express provisions contained in the Danish
gambling legislation.
United Kingdom: No.
Switzerland: No express provisions contained in the
legislation.
Canada: No. However, no individual who is under 19 years
of age shall enter or remain in a gaming site, except for an
individual acting in the course of employment. GCA Part
I.1(3).

4.17. If yes, which?
Austria: Denmark: United Kingdom: While the Gambling Act 2005 has
provisions relating to children (under 16 years old) and
young persons (not a child but less than 18 years old),
there are no provisions for young adults.
However, the LCCP does contain some provisions relevant
for young adults. Ordinary code provision 3.2.2 provides
that
“Licensees should put into effect procedures that require
their staff to check the age of any customer who appears
to them to be under 21.”
With respect to advertising, LCCP ordinary code provision
5.1.6 states that:
“All advertising of gambling products and services
should be undertaken in a socially responsible
manner. In particular, licensees should comply with
the advertising codes of practice which apply to the
form and media in which they advertise their gambling
facilities or services, and for media not explicitly covered
should apply the principles included in these codes of
practice as if they were explicitly covered. Licensees

Switzerland: No. The Federal Law on Games of Chance
and Gaming Houses, Article 27, strictly prohibits casinos
from granting any loans. This is further stipulated in the

Denmark: No. However, the Executive Order on landbased-casinos contains requirements for the registration
of customers, including video registration, and for the

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MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Category 5. Information to players, advertising, staff
training, operating hours and location requirements

should also follow any relevant industry code of practice
on advertising.
However, the particular restriction on allowing people
aged under 25 to appear in adverts need not be applied
to point of sale advertising material, provided that the
images used depict the sporting activity that may be
gambled on and not the activity of gambling itself and
do not offend any other aspect of the advertising codes.”

5.1. Minimum requirements with regard to
information which is to be provided towards
a player (i.e. gaming rules, pay-out ratio per
game, manner of payment)?

Switzerland: -

Austria: Yes.

Canada: -

Denmark: Yes.

version of the games rules and has to place them in the
table area, on each gaming machine or show it on request.
Canada: In Ontario, Section 2.8 of the AGCO Standards
outlines that game designs and features shall be clear and
shall not mislead the player.
Requirements – At a minimum:
“1. Where a game simulates a physical device, the
theoretical probabilities and visual representation of the
game shall correspond to the features and actions of the
physical device, unless otherwise disclosed to the player.

United Kingdom: Yes.
Switzerland: Yes.
Canada: Differs by province.

2. Game design shall not give the player the perception
that speed of play or skill affects the outcome of the
game when it does not.

In Ontario, yes.

5.2. If so, which?

3. After the selection of game outcome, the game
shall not make a variable secondary decision which
affects the result shown to the player. If the outcome is
chosen that the game will lose then the game shall not
substitute a particular type of loss to show the player
(i.e. near miss).

Austria: The Minister of Finance has to approve the
gaming rules to be provided by the licensee. The
Gambling Act requires the licensee to make the rules
of the game including information on minimum and
maximum stakes and winnings, game times, etc available.
The game rules have to be approved by the Minister of
Finance.

4. Where the game requires pre-determined pattern (for
example, hidden prizes on a map), the locations of the
winning sports shall not chance during play, except as
provided in the rules of plays.

Denmark: Section 33 of the Act on Gambling requires that
the licence holder makes all relevant information about
the gambling activities, including rules of the game, easily
accessible to the player and the authorities. Section 11 of
the Executive Order on land-based casinos requires that
information on minimum and maximum stakes on every
game must be posted at each table game.
In addition, Section 36 of the Act on Gambling contains
various rules which apply to the marketing of gambling
activities (chance of winning has to be presented in a
correct and balanced manner, marketing shall not aim at
young people under the age of 18, etc).
United Kingdom: LCCP provision (social responsibility
code provision) 4.2.1, requires licence holders to ensure
that the following are included: A) the rules of each type
of casino game B) a player’s guide to the house edge C) a
player’s guide to the rules of any available equal chance
games. The LCCP also contains staff training obligations
as mentioned above.
Switzerland: According to Article 58 of the Executive
Ordinance on Games of Chance and Gaming Houses the
casino has to draft a short and easily understandable

90

5. Games shall not display amounts or symbols that are
unachievable.
6. Games shall not contain intentionally programmed
subliminal messaging.
Etc…”
Section 4 of the AGCO Standards outlines game integrity
and player awareness.

5.3. Any rules on how this information has to be
made available?
Austria: Yes. Section 26 of the Gambling Act requires
that the game rules have to be made available in an
appropriate manner to the consumers.
Denmark: Yes. The Act on Gambling requires that the
information is “easily accessible to the player and the
authority”. Section 11 of the Executive Order on landbased casinos requires that information on minimum and
maximum stakes on every game must be posted at each
table game.

91

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

United Kingdom: Yes. The Gambling Act 2005, at Section
24, provides that in relation to the codes of practice which
the Gambling Commission issues, one of the purposes
the codes of practice serve is to ensure that “gambling is
conducted in a fair and open way”. Moreover, LCCP licence
condition 9.1.1 on ‘rules of casino games’ states that:
“Licensees must not offer or permit to be played casino
games that appear on any list of games prohibited
by the Commission.” Furthermore, LCCP social
responsibility code provision 4.2.1 (Display of rules)
states that:
“In complying with any condition on a casino premises
licence requiring the display of rules about gaming,
licensees must ensure that the following are included:
a the rules of each type of casino game available to be
played
b a player’s guide to the house edge
c a player’s guide to the rules of any equal chance
games which are made available.”
Switzerland: Yes. According to Article 58 of the Executive
Ordinance on Games of Chance and Gaming Houses the
casino has to draft a short and easily understandable
version of the games rules and has to place them in the
table area, on each gaming machine or show it on request.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, the regulations/
standards do not specify how this information is to be
made available. The AGCO Regulations just require the
rules are made “available, visible and accessible to all
patrons.”
In many of the gaming locations throughout Ontario
there are Responsible Gaming Resource Centres (RGRC).
These centres provide patrons with information on
safer gambling practices as well as assistance and local
referrals for help with gambling-related problems.
In British Columbia, the British Columbia Lottery
Corporation operates a program called GameSense.
It teaches players about their odds of winning, how
games work, when to stop and how to recognize if
gambling is becoming a problem for them. GameSense
is available online, at all lottery retail outlets and at
the interactive GameSense Info Centre or satellite
GameSense Info Centre in every casino and community
gaming centre in the province. Further, help-line stickers
and posters promoting responsible gambling and the
Problem Gambling Program are available at all casinos,
commercial bingo halls and lottery retail outlets.

5.4. Any minimum requirements with regard
to the material used (of table games, slot
machines, etc)?
Austria: No express provisions contained in the Gambling
Act. However, the licensing booklet specifies that the

August 2014

licence applicants’ organisation, operation and equipment
shall live up to the highest standards of integrity and
security. The licence applicant shall be used to working
with certified standards and shall prove that the licence
applicant has received the necessary certificates.
Denmark: Yes. Section 41 of the Act on Gambling provides
that the Minister of Taxation lays down detailed rules
regarding the gambling activities and the conduction
of such, including rules for stakes and winnings in the
gambling activities, payback percentages, control
measures necessary for implementation of the Act on
Gambling, approval and location of technical equipment
used to provide gambling activities, information
obligations, registration of players, storage of data,
measures to protect the players’ money, appeals
processing requirements, participation in gambling
activities by employees of the licence holder and detailed
rules regarding transmission of payments in connection
with stakes and winnings to and from an illegal provider of
gambling activities.
Accordingly, Chapter 6 of the Executive Order on landbased casinos concerns the gaming machine technology
and in particular requires that for each roulette wheel
installed and each gaming machine there must be a
declaration from an accredited testing company approved
by the Gambling Authority. In addition gaming machines
that pay out winnings have to be connected to a national
monitoring system and have to be configured that they
cannot function when they are disconnected from the
national monitoring system.

2008.pdf), with 13 approved test houses as of June 2014,
some of which can test for gaming machines and bingo
and casino equipment.

The Minister of Taxation may lay down further detailed
rules governing the marketing of gambling activities.

Canada: Differs by province.

United Kingdom: LCCP ordinary code provision
(Compliance with advertising codes) 5.1.6 states that:
“All advertising of gambling products and services
should be undertaken in a socially responsible manner. In
particular, licensees should comply with the advertising
codes of practice which apply to the form and media in
which they advertise their gambling facilities or services,
and for media not explicitly covered should apply the
principles included in these codes of practice as if they
were explicitly covered. Licensees should also follow any
relevant industry code of practice on advertising.

In Ontario, the technical standards for electronic gaming,
server-assisted and server-based gaming and general
standards for gaming can be found at http://www.agco.
on.ca/en/whatwedo/standards_registrar_commercial.
aspx.

5.5. Any restrictions with regard to the content,
time, form and place of advertising of licensees
in national legislation?
Austria: Yes.
Denmark: Yes.
United Kingdom: Yes.
Switzerland: Yes.

Gaming tokens shall be provided with the logo of each
individual casino.

5.6. In the affirmative, what are these?

Similarly LCCP licence condition 2.3.1 (technical standards)
applies to gaming machines: “Licensees must comply
with the Commission’s technical standards and with
requirements set by the Commission relating to the timing
and procedures for testing.”
The Gambling Commission currently has ‘gaming
machines technical standards’ and ‘bingo and casino
equipment technical requirements’ (http://www.
gamblingcommission.gov.uk/shared_content_areas/
gaming_machines_technical_stan.aspx)(http://www.
gamblingcommission.gov.uk/pdf/Bingo%20and%20
Casino%20Technical%20Requirements%20-%20July%20

92

that participation in gambling activities helps provide
a solution to financial problems or improves the
player’s social acceptance.

Switzerland: Yes. According to Articles 65-67 of the
Executive Ordinance on Games of Chance and Gaming
Houses casinos are only allowed to put gaming
equipment into operation, which complies with the
technical requirements. Casinos are required to provide
the commission any documentation, which is necessary
to assess the technical conformity of the gambling
equipment. Casinos are also required to make a statement
that the gaming equipment complies with the technical
requirements.

Section 22 of the Executive Order on land-based casinos
also requires the casino management to ensure daily that
the gaming technology equipment works flawlessly.

United Kingdom: Yes. LCCP licence condition 2.3.3
(Casino equipment specifications) requires: “Licensees
must comply with the Commission’s specifications for
casino equipment.”

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, yes.

Austria: Section 56 of the Gambling Act simply stipulates
that licensed operators have to keep a responsible scale
regarding their advertising activities.
Denmark: Section 36 of the Act on Gambling concerns
the marketing of gambling activities and states that a
licensee’s marketing:
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The Marketing Practices Act contains additional
specifications. For example, Section 8 of the Marketing
Practices Act stats that “marketing directed at children and
young people shall be designed with specific reference to
their natural credulity and lack of experience and critical
sense, as a result of which they are readily influenced and
easy to impress”.

However, the particular restriction on allowing people
aged under 25 to appear in adverts need not be applied
to point of sale advertising material, provided that the
images used depict the sporting activity that may be
gambled on and not the activity of gambling itself and do
not offend any other aspect of the advertising codes.”
Licensees are subject to a number of advertising codes.
According to the Gambling Commission’s guidance,
“Advertising is subject to the CAP and BCAP advertising
codes. The CAP and BCAP codes are administered by the
Advertising Standards Authority (ASA). Operators should
also follow the Gambling Industry Code for Socially
Responsible Gambling. The Gambling Industry Code
for Socially Responsible Gambling was published on 7
August 2007 and is monitored by the Review Group for
Socially Responsible Advertising.”
The Advertising Standards Authority notes that the
relevant rules are, that gambling ads must not:

shall present the chance of winning in a correct and
balanced manner that does not create an impression
that the chance of winning is greater than it actually is;
shall focus on gambling as a form of entertainment;
shall not aim at children and young people under the
age of 18, neither in its communication form nor in the
choice of media;
shall not by using well-known personalities
suggest that participation in gambling activities has
contributed to their success when that is not true; and
shall not have a content that conveys the impression

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93

“Portray, condone or encourage gambling
behaviour that is socially irresponsible or could lead
to financial, social or emotional harm.
Exploit the susceptibilities, aspirations, credulity,
inexperience or lack of knowledge of children,
young persons or other vulnerable persons.
Suggest that gambling can be a solution to financial
concerns.
Link gambling to seduction, sexual success or
enhanced attractiveness.
Be of particular appeal to children or young persons,

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

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especially by reflecting or being associated with
youth culture.
Feature anyone gambling or playing a significant
role in the ad if they are under 25 years old (or
appear to be under 25).”
GamblingCompliance Commentary
During April 2014 the Committee of Advertising
Practice (CAP) published terms of reference for a
review gambling ads.

Switzerland: The Federal Law on Games of Chance and
Gaming Houses, Article 33 provides that a casino should
refrain from “outrageous” advertising.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, Section 2.1 of the
AGCO Regulations outlines these restrictions:
“Advertising and marketing materials and
communications shall not target underage of selfexcluded persons to participate in lottery schemes and
shall not include underage individuals.” The standards
then prohibit placing advertisements on billboard or
other outdoor displays directly adjacent to schools or
other primarily youth-oriented locations, using children
to promote gambling, using cartoon figures or other
promotions whose primary appeal is to minor, and appear
in media and venues directed primarily to minors.

5.7. Any provisions on advertisements of landbased casino operators located in another
country?
Austria: Yes. EU-based casinos are allowed to advertise
their services in Austria. Under Section 56 of the Gambling
Act, advertising is permitted by operators in the EU or
EEA where their licence corresponds to Section 21, i.e.,
land-based casino licences. In addition, player protection
standards must correspond to Austrian domestic
standards. Approval must be obtained by the Minister of
Finance.
This system of preliminary authorisation and the
requirement of being based in a country where the level of
player protection rules corresponds to the level of player
protection rules in Austria was contested by the Slovenian
HIT casinos at the Court of Justice of the European
Union (CJEU). The CJEU found in its HIT and HIT LARIX
C-176/11 case that such provision could be considered
proportionate with the laws of the EU provided that the
national court found that the Austrian Gambling Act
requires the player protection rules of the other member
state (in this case Slovenia) to be “in essence equivalent”
to the Austrian player protection provisions. However
if the national court found that Austria in fact required
Slovenian player protection provisions to be “identical”,
such requirement would be disproportionate.

August 2014

Denmark: No express provisions contained in the
land-based gambling legislation. However, the Act on
Gambling provides for sanctions for advertising of/for
operators not holding a licence in Denmark.
United Kingdom: The Gambling Act 2005 contained
a provision on foreign gambling which for non-remote
gambling (such as casinos) permitted advertising of
casinos in EEA member states as there was only a
prohibition on: “non-remote gambling which is to take
place in a non-EEA State”. However, the recently passed
(In May 2014) Gambling (Licensing and Advertising) Act
2014 (which effective provision are yet to come into force)
will repeal the relevant section of the Gambling Act on
foreign gambling (Section 331), therefore the advertising
of casinos based in another country will not be permitted
once this is in effect.
Switzerland: No express provisions contained in the
legislation.
Canada: No express provisions contained in the
legislation.

5.8. Any minimum requirements with regard to
staff of a casino (integrity and training of the
staff)?
Austria: Yes. Section 25 of the Gambling Act requires
that a land-based casino has to train its staff with regard
to gambling addiction and to this end has to work with at
least one gambling addiction care body. Also the licensing
booklet states that a licence applicant has to demonstrate
whether it has any training for staff in place or not and give
details on the special training if applicable.
Denmark: Yes. The day to the day operation of a landbased casino must be conducted by a licence holder (in
case of a natural person holding the licence) or a manager
(in case of a legal person holding the licence). According
to Section 37 of the Act on Gambling the regulatory
authority shall approve the manager prior to employment.
It is a condition for obtaining such approval that the
manager is 21 or older, is not under guardianship and has
not been convicted of a criminal offence that gives reason
to believe that there is a clear risk of abuse of the access
to work with gambling. The manager cannot be approved
if the manager or others who can exert a controlling
influence on the manager’s work has behaved in such
a way that it gives reason to assume that the gambling
establishment will not be operated in an acceptable
manner.
According to Section 39 of the Act on Gambling also an
employee at a land-based casino shall be approved by
the regulatory authority prior to the employment. It is a
condition for obtaining such approval that the employee

94

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

is 21 or older, is not under guardianship and has not
been convicted of a criminal offence that gives reason to
believe that there is a clear risk of abuse of the access to
work with gambling. An employee cannot be approved
if the conduct of the employee or others who can exert a
controlling influence have behaved in such a way that it
gives reason to assume that the employee will not carry
out his work in an acceptable manner.

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Section 8 of the Executive Order on land-based casinos
states that an employee may not participate in games
in the casino other than in cases where the employee’s
function at the casino is to participate in operating the
game.
Section 9 of the Executive Order on land-based casinos
prohibits that employees accept gifts or other favourable
benefits from casino guests.
United Kingdom: Yes. In addition to the more
generic training requirements in the LCCP, LCCP social
responsibility code provision 4.2.5 provides that licence
holders shall “have and put into effect policies and
procedures designed to ensure that proper supervision
of gaming tables is carried out by supervisors, pit bosses
and croupiers in order to ensure the integrity of the
gaming is not compromised. Such policies and procedures
must take into account, but need not be limited by, any
mandatory premises licence conditions relating to the
layout of premises”.

»»

Switzerland: Please refer to answer 4.3 in relation to the
training requirement.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, regulations
require training. Section 2.5(1) of the AGCO Standards:
“1. All employees who interact with players shall receive
training in a Registrar-approved program designed to
identify and respond appropriately to players who may
be showing signs of problem gambling.”

5.9. In particular, do employees have to
observe a player’s behaviour with regard to fair
play, etc?
Austria: No express provisions contained in the Gambling
Act.
Denmark: Yes. The Executive Order on land-based
casinos contains certain requirements concerning the
observance of the player’s behaviour:
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»»

Section 7 of the Executive Order on land-based
casinos requires casinos to keep documents and
records relating to transactions for at least five years
after the implementation of the transaction.
Section 32 of the Executive Order on land-based

casinos requires that there is a device installed in each
casino that makes it possible simultaneously to carry
out video surveillance of all of the exchange booth’s
transactions relating to the conduct of all games at
the gaming tables.
Section 33 of the Executive Order on land-based
casinos provides that the casino management,
security personnel and other employees who are
engaged in actual casino activities must pay special
attention to transactions and exchanges that may
be related to money laundering or financing of
terrorism. In the event of a suspicion that a transaction
or exchange is or has been connected to money
laundering or the financing of terrorism, the casino
shall investigate this in more detail. In the event that
the suspicion of the transaction or exchange being
or having been connected to money laundering
or the financing of terrorism cannot be disproved
immediately; the Public Prosecutor for Serious
Economic Crime must be notified immediately.
Section 35 of the Executive Order on landbased casinos states that a casino shall prepare
written internal rules on adequate monitoring
and communication procedures, including
customer identification, reporting, record keeping,
communication and control in order to forestall and
prevent money laundering or financing of terrorism.
A casino shall also prepare training and instruction
programmes for employees. A casino has to ensure
that employees engaged in identification, exchange
and actual casino activities are made aware of
these internal rules. Every quarter, the casino shall
send information to the Danish Gaming Authority
concerning the number of reports to the Public
Prosecutor for Serious Economic Crime, and how
many employees have undergone training and
instruction programmes.

United Kingdom: Yes. See above. Also, the Gambling Act
2005’s licensing objectives would relate to this issue, as
would the offence of cheating at gambling at Section 42
of the Gambling Act.
Switzerland: No express provisions contained in the
legislation.
Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, yes. Section
4 of the AGCO Standards requires operators place
mechanisms to deter, prevent and detect collusion and
cheating. Further, these activities must be logged. The
standards also require players are easily and readily able
to report activities related to collusion and cheating.
In Manitoba, Section 9.1 of the Manitoba Gaming Control
Act states that each registered gaming operator must
adopt and implement a responsible gaming policy,
including training programs in responsible gambling for
employees.

95

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

5.10. Are there any regulations with regard to
the opening hours of a casino?

based casinos may be operated (that is, certain city, part of
the country or even part of the city).

Austria: No express provisions contained in the Gambling
Act.

Denmark: No. No such provisions with regard to landbased casinos are contained in the Act on Gambling or
the Executive Order on land-based gambling. However,
Section 31 of the Act on Gambling requires that when
determining whether or not to grant a land-based casino
licence emphasis has to be attached to the maintenance
of public order and the size and location of the
establishment.

Denmark: Yes. The Executive Order on land-based
casinos states that casinos are allowed to be open daily
between 10am and 5am. Specific rules on opening hours
may be stipulated in each land-based casino licence.
United Kingdom: No. While there are default opening
hours set by local authorities, there are no legislated for
or mandated opening times. Moreover, in evidence to the
Culture, Media and Sport select committee during July 2011
the Casino Operators Association noted on opening hours
that:
“With regards to the third Licensing Objective of
ensuring that children and vulnerable people are
protected, at the same time as introducing a slew of
supposedly protective measures (which are mainly just
time consuming for the operator and serve to absolve
gamblers of any personal responsibility), instead of
maintaining the casino opening hours of 12pm until
6am as a mandatory licence condition (which would
have ensured a national closed/ “cooling-off” period for
all customers), the Act left opening hours as a default
condition at the discretion of the local authorities. The
result has been that, without a nationally applicable
closing period, gamblers are gambling until they can do
so no more and their money is all spent. Not all of them
will be problem gamblers but it has been noticeable
that customers are simply wiped out by prolonged
gambling in a way that did not happen when there was a
short break in their activities.

United Kingdom: No express provisions contained in the
legislation. However, the fact that only certain licensing
authorities can have large or small casinos will put a curb
on new developments (not under 1968 Act licences).
Switzerland: No express provisions contained in the
legislation.
Canada: Differs by province. Regulations and laws in
Ontario were silent as to this issue. However, this is likely
a factor to consider when deciding whether to establish a
new gaming site.

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

August 2014

Category 6. Anti-money laundering and terrorist
financing, staff AML training
6.1. Any minimum requirements for licensees
with regard to monitoring and reporting
suspicious (financial) transactions provided by
law?

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»»

Austria: Yes.
Denmark: Yes.
United Kingdom: Yes.
Switzerland: Yes.
Canada: Yes.

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6.2. If so, which?
Austria: Section 25 of the Gambling Act requires casinos
to report any suspicion concerning money laundering
or the financing of terrorism to the Bundeskriminalamt
(Federal Criminal Bureau). Further casinos have to report
any suspicion that the player does not act on his own
behalf. In this case the casino has to request the identity of
the person on behalf of whom the player is actually acting.
In general, casinos have to abide to the rules laid down in
EU Directive 2005/60 EG applicable to casinos.

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In addition, casinos are required to undertake customer
due diligence measures at the entrance of the casino
independently from where the person will engage in
financial transactions in the casino. Further customer due
diligence measures have to be undertaken when a foreign
exchange of more than €15,000 is performed in the casino
and there is a general monitoring threshold of €700.

The UK now has 24 hour gambling in most areas as local
authorities are unwilling and ill-equipped to oppose 24
hour licence applications by powerful operators and,
due to market demand, even smaller operators opposed
to 24 hour gambling have been forced to follow suit.”

The licensing booklet further specifies that as part of
the licence application the licence applicant has to
demonstrate its AML and anti-terrorist financing concepts.

Switzerland: No express provisions contained in the
legislation.

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Denmark: The AML regulations in relation to landbased casinos are not in the Danish Act on Anti-Money
Laundering but in the Executive Order on land-based
casinos:

Canada: Differs by province. In Ontario, no.
In Manitoba, casinos throughout the province vary in
operating hours, however, most casinos are open until
around 3am most nights.

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5.11. Are there any regulations concerning
minimum distance requirements between
casinos?
Austria: No express provisions contained in the Gambling
Act. The licensing booklet, however, restricts where land-

96

Section 6 of the Executive Order on land-based
casinos states that any casino that detects cheating
or other criminal offences in connection with the
progress of the games can register the persons
committing or being an accessory to such acts if the
acts are reported to the police at the same time.
During such registration the casino may refuse access
to the casino to the person in question.

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97

Section 7 of the Executive Order on land-based
casinos requires casinos to keep documents and
records relating to transactions for at least five years
after the implementation of the transaction.
Chapter 5 of the Executive Order on land-based
casinos deals with the control of cash at the gaming
table in a casino and inter alia provides that the
content of a cash box at a gaming table has to be
counted on a daily basis and furthermore sets certain
conditions how and when the content has to be
counted.
Furthermore Chapter 5 contains provisions on how
winnings have to be paid out and concerning the
exchange of tokens and money.
Section 32 of the Executive Order on land-based
casinos requires that there is a device installed in each
casino that makes it possible simultaneously to carry
out video surveillance of all of the exchange booth’s
transactions relating to the conduct of all games at
the gaming tables
Section 33 of the Executive Order on land-based
casinos provides that the casino management,
security personnel and other employees who are
engaged in actual casino activities must pay special
attention to transactions and exchanges that may
be related to money laundering or financing of
terrorism. In the event of a suspicion that a transaction
or exchange is or has been connected to money
laundering or the financing of terrorism, the casino
shall investigate this in more detail. In the event that
the suspicion of the transaction or exchange being
or having been connected to money laundering
or the financing of terrorism cannot be disproved
immediately, the Public Prosecutor for Serious
Economic Crime must be notified immediately.
The Executive Order on land-based casinos requires
that a controller who is independent of the casino
shall be present at all times throughout the opening
hours of the casino. The controller shall be employed
by the Danish Gaming Authority. If the controller
becomes aware of circumstances that are presumed
to be connected to money laundering or the financing
of terrorism, he shall notify the Public Prosecutor for
Serious Economic Crime.
If the casino’s management, security personnel or
other employees who are engaged in actual casino
activities suspect the existence of irregularities in
connection with the operation of gaming, they shall
immediately inform the controller.
The casino’s management, security personnel and
other employees who are engaged in actual casino
activities, as well as auditors and others who perform
special functions for the casino, shall be obliged to

MODERNISATION OF GAMES OF CHANCE

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»»

»»
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keep secret the fact that a suspicious transaction has
been reported, or that an investigation is being or
will be opened concerning money laundering or the
financing of terrorism.
Section 35 of the Executive Order on landbased casinos states that a casino shall prepare
written internal rules on adequate monitoring
and communication procedures, including
customer identification, reporting, record keeping,
communication and control in order to forestall and
prevent money laundering or financing of terrorism.
A casino shall also prepare training and instruction
programmes for employees. A casino has to ensure
that employees engaged in identification, exchange
and actual casino activities are made aware of these
internal rules. Every quarter, the casino shall send
information to the Gambling Authority concerning the
number of reports to the Public Prosecutor for Serious
Economic Crime, and how many employees have
undergone training and instruction programmes.
In addition the Gambling Authority published
guidelines on preventive measures against money
laundering and terrorist financing in the casino sector
(Guidelines). According to the Guidelines the casino
is obligated to report to the State Prosecutor for
Economic and International Crime on for example
customers who have financial funds whose origin
cannot be directly explained, even though the
transaction itself will not immediately contribute to
money laundering.
Pursuant to the Guidelines the casino company must
appoint a person from management who must secure
that the company complies with the AML regulations.
The regulations stipulate that a casino must
have sufficient internal rules about controls, risk
assessment and communication, also called risk
management. The casino’s risk management in
relation to money laundering should be based on the
casino’s business model and the possible risks of the
casino being abused for money laundering or terrorist
financing purposes. There are no specific reporting
thresholds. The latter should be set based on the
overall risk assessment of the casino.

United Kingdom: The Money Laundering Regulations
2007 specify for casinos at Section 10:
(1) A casino must establish and verify the identity of—
(a) all customers to whom the casino makes facilities
for gaming available—
(i) before entry to any premises where such facilities
are provided; or
(ii) where the facilities are for remote gaming, before
access is given to such facilities; or
(b) if the specified conditions are met, all customers
who, in the course of any period of 24 hours—
(i) purchase from, or exchange with, the casino chips
with a total value of 2,000 euro or more;
(ii) pay the casino 2,000 or more for the use of

August 2014

gaming machines; or
(iii) pay to, or stake with, the casino 2,000 euro or
more in connection with facilities for remote gaming.
(2) The specified conditions are—
(a) the casino verifies the identity of each customer
before or immediately after such purchase, exchange,
payment or stake takes place, and
(b) the Gambling Commission is satisfied that the
casino has appropriate procedures in place to monitor
and record—
(i) the total value of chips purchased from or
exchanged with the casino;
(ii) the total money paid for the use of gaming
machines; or
(iii )the total money paid or staked in connection with
facilities for remote gaming, by each customer.
Section 19 Money Laundering Regulations 2007 on
record keeping specifies a five year time period for
the retention of records.
According to the Gambling Commission’s guidance
(Money laundering: the prevention of money laundering
and combating the financing of terrorism, Guidance for
remote and non-remote casinos, July 2013) casinos must
establish and verify the identity of all customers before
entry to the premises. In addition, casinos may, subject
to conditions, verify the identity of customers before
or after a purchase, exchange, payment or stake takes
place. Furthermore, casinos are required to “maintain
where necessary, records of customers and transactions
that meet the needs of law enforcements investigations
tackling money laundering and terrorist financing.”
Switzerland: Reporting obligations are included in the
Federal Act on Combating Money Laundering in the
Financial Sector (Anti-Money Laundering Act) of October
10, 1997 and the Executive Ordinance of June 12, 2007
regarding the duty of due diligence applying to casinos in
the fight against money laundering. Casinos can identify
all entrants when they first enter the casino but can
also opt to fulfil their identification obligation in case of
transaction involving large sums, the amount of which is
specified as CHF5,000.
Canada: The Proceeds of Crime and Terrorist Financing
Act is the major law regarding the reporting of suspicious
transactions in Canada.

6.3. Which information are licensees required
to report to the supervisory/licensing authority
with regard to fraud, criminal activities and
money laundering?
Austria: No express provision contained in the Gambling
Act. However, casinos are obliged to undertake customer
due diligence measures at the entrance of the casino
independently from where the person will engage in
financial transactions in the casino. Further customer due

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diligence measures have to be undertaken when a foreign
exchange of more than €15,000 is performed in the casino.
There is also a general monitoring threshold of €700.
Denmark: No express provisions contained in the Act on
Gambling and the Executive Order on land-based casinos.
Reporting is based on the overall risk assessment, each
casino must set a limit of its own. The limit should be set
according to a risk assessment of how vulnerable the
casino is with regard to money laundering and terrorist
financing.
United Kingdom: See previous question on reporting
thresholds.
In addition casino employees are required to report
to their nominated officer of any suspicion of money
laundering by customers, guests or other employees.
Furthermore, as far as licensed operators are concerned,
they have to maintain written risk-based policies and
procedures in regards to: Customer due diligence
(CDD) measures and ongoing monitoring; reporting;
record keeping; internal control; risk assessment and
management; training; monitoring and management of
compliance with the policies and procedures.
LCCP licence condition 15.2.1 (Reporting key events)
requires casinos to have: “a position the holder of which
is responsible for the licensee’s anti-money laundering
procedures, including suspicious activity reporting.”
(Commonly known as a money laundering reporting
officer (MLRO).
Switzerland: According to Article 9 of the Anti-Money
Laundering Act, if a casino has suspicions that the assets
can potentially be of fraudulent origin, it is obliged to
immediately inform the Money Laundering Reporting
Office Switzerland (MROS) at the Federal Office of Police
(fedpol) and freeze the assets.
Canada: Each employee who handles a large cash
transaction of C$10,000 has to report it, and any employee
who extends credit to C$3,000 or converts currency
worth C$3,000 also has to report it. Even if the amount is
lower, the person may be required to fill out a signature
card if the casino employee has any reason to believe
the transaction is suspicious. Suspicion may arise in a
situation where a player cashes in chips on multiple
occasions or uses the casino’s currency exchange facility
without playing. A suspicious transaction can also arise in
circumstances where a client attempts to avoid triggering
a large cash transaction report by stopping play just
before reaching the C$10,000 threshold.

6.4. What are the minimum requirements for
the training of employees in order to observe
risks regarding fraud, criminal activities and
money laundering?
Austria: No express provisions contained in the Gambling
Act.
Denmark: Section 35 of the Executive Order on landbased casinos states that a casino shall prepare written
internal rules on adequate monitoring and communication
procedures, including customer identification, reporting,
record keeping, communication and control in order
to forestall and prevent money laundering or financing
of terrorism. A casino shall also prepare training and
instruction programmes for employees. A casino has
to ensure that employees engaged in identification,
exchange and actual casino activities are made aware of
these internal rules. Every quarter, the casino shall send
information to the Danish Gaming Authority concerning
the number of reports to the Public Prosecutor for
Serious Economic Crime, and how many employees have
undergone training and instruction programmes.
United Kingdom: All casino employees are required to
receive training so they can be alert to risks of money
laundering and terrorist financing. Operators, on the other
hand, must ensure that they implement clear policies and
procedures in order to ensure that their employees are
familiar with their legal obligation in regards to combating
money laundering and terrorist financing.
Switzerland: The Federal Act on Combating Money
Laundering and Terrorist Financing in the Financial Sector,
Article 8 stipulates that financial intermediaries must “in
particular ensure that their staff receives adequate training
and that checks are carried out.”
Furthermore, Article 18 and 19 of the Ordinance on the Due
Diligence Obligations of Casinos for the Combat of Money
Laundering stipulates that the casino nominates one or
more qualified persons to the money laundering body
of the casino. Among the tasks of the money laundering
body of the casino are the planning and monitoring of
the internal money laundering training. The casino has to
provide for training to new employees as well as for the
regular money laundering training of existing employees.
Canada: Casinos are required to have a money
laundering reporting officer (MLRO), but this
employee’s responsibilities were not clear until the
2008 amendments. The amendments dictate that
casino MLROs have to enforce a number of procedures,
including:
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Developing written compliance policies and
procedures manuals.
Assessing and documenting the risk related to money
laundering and terrorist activity financing.

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Category 7. Compliance and enforcement

Developing and maintaining money laundering
compliance training programs for casino employees
and agents.
Establishing and documenting a review of the casino’s
policies and procedures, risk assessment and training
program every two years by an internal or external
auditor.

7.1. Which instruments provided for by national
legislation allowing the national authorities
to supervise and enforce the compliance of
licensees?
Austria: Section 31 of the Gambling Act states that
the Minister of Finance has to supervise the licensee’s
compliance with Austrian law and any decisions rendered
applicable to the licensee. To this end the Minister of
Finance can inspect the licensee’s books and documents
and is allowed to enter the casino’s premises at all times.
Denmark: According to Section 46 of the Act on
Gambling the Gambling Authority supervises the
compliance of land-based casinos with the Act on
Gambling and any secondary legislation in this regard.
The Gambling Authority in particular has to approve the
land-based casino’s employees and managers and the
independent controller who has to be at each land-based
casino during the opening hours is an employee of the
Gambling Authority. The Act on Gambling also provides
for cooperation with the regulatory authority and the
police, tax administration and other public national and
foreign authorities for the purpose of supervision.
Regarding enforcement:
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Section 47 of the Act on Gambling provides that
without a court order and upon showing legitimate
identification the regulatory authority has at any
time the jurisdiction to inspect premises used by the
licence holder in relation to provision and organisation
of gambling activities and to inspect their technical
equipment and accounting records and associated
documents that may be of relevance to the inspection,
no matter if these are available as hardcopy or in
electronic form.
The regulatory authority may order the licence holder
to disclose information about the gambling activities
and request submission of certain material.
Third party suppliers of equipment used for the
provision of gambling activities shall provide the
regulatory authority with information regarding their
deliveries to the licence holders covered by the Act on
Gambling.
Fines may apply in case a licence holder infringes
certain provisions of the Act of Gambling. The licence
may be revoked and voided, too.

With reference to the Danish Gambling Authority
employee at casinos, the Authority’s Annual Report for
2013 noted that:
“An employee from the Danish Gambling Authority is
present during the casino’s full opening hours, having

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supervisory responsibilities that include ensuring that the
counting of the casino’s cash, chips and cards complies
with the rules applying.
In 2013 we continued working on a project launched in
2012 designed to assess the current supervision of the
land-based casinos. The main focus of the project is to
explore whether future casino supervision can be more
expediently organised in terms of use of resources and
technological advances in the field. The project will
continue in 2014.”
United Kingdom: The Gambling Act 2005 at Section
27 authorises the Gambling Commission to assess
compliance:
The Commission may undertake activities for the
purpose of assessing—
(a) compliance with provision made by or by virtue of
this Act;
(b) whether an offence is being committed under or by
virtue of this Act.
At Section 303 of the Gambling Act 2005 the Gambling
Commission can designate enforcement officers.
Moreover, the LCCP provides (which are authorised by
Section 24 of the Gambling Act 2005) the framework for
the Gambling Commission to stipulate expected codes of
conduct and conditions through which casino operates.
The Money Laundering Regulations 2007 as amended
provide for compliance to anti-money laundering rules, in
addition to the LCCP.
Local authorities and police are also be involved in
enforcement actions.
Switzerland: Article 48 (3) of the Federal Law on Games
of Chance and Gaming Houses stipulates that the board
carrying out its regulatory tasks can request the necessary
information and documents, use experts, issue particular
orders to the independent auditor, establish online
connection to the equipment of casinos and to submit
a complaint at the Federal Supreme Court against the
decisions of the Federal Administrative Court regarding
the application of the gambling law and the related
secondary legislation.
Article 49 stipulates that the Gaming Board and the
administrative and criminal prosecution authorities of
the cantons support each others’ work and provide each
other the necessary information in regards to gambling
supervision.
Article 120 of the Executive Ordinance on Games of
Chance and Gaming Houses outlines the supervisory

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powers of the Federal Gaming Board, which include
the right to request business records, documents and
information, check the technical equipment and the
control and monitoring systems, conduct tests, undertake
protective measures, issue confiscation orders and to
suspend the operation of table games, gaming machines
and jackpot systems. The board can also make use of the
help of experts.

a similar nature for which a licence has not been granted
or by promoting such gambling, regardless of whether
such gambling takes place in private or in a public place.

Article 51 stipulates that if the licensee contravenes
the concession or a legally binding order to its own
advantage, it shall be debited with an amount up to three
times the profit made through the breach. If there is no
profit or it cannot be determined, the fine is up to 20
percent of gross gaming revenues in the last financial year.

The provision in this Section 204 is not limited to the
commercial provision of games, which is the case for
Section 203. Participation in gambling for which a licence
has not been obtained is a punishable offence. Gambling
and betting of a similar nature mean traditional gambling
for not entirely insignificant economic values, the outcome
of which is almost solely a matter of chance and for which
a stake is payable to participate.

Canada: Casinos are required to record and report
electronic transfers to the Financial Transactions and
Reports Analysis Centre (FINTRAC) when they are for
the transfer of C$10,000 or more outside Canada. These
reports must include the name, address and account
or reference number of the person who requested the
transfer.
Another requirement is the undertaking of risk assessment
procedures by casino operators regarding the integrity
of their financial systems. Cooperation with money
laundering and terrorist financing intelligence-sharing
among enforcement agencies is also required.

7.2. Which instruments provided for by law
allowing the national authorities to supervise
and enforce the national gambling legislation
with regard to non-licensed operators?
Austria: According to the Gambling Act, it is an
administrative offence to operate, organise, promote or to
make unlicensed gambling available to Austrian players
and it is punishable with a penalty of up to €22,000.
Section 168 of the Austrian Criminal Code provides that
organising, or facilitating the organisation of, illegal
gambling, as well as the participation in it as a regular
source of income, can be punished with imprisonment of
up to six months or a fine.
Denmark: Section 59 of the Act on Gambling states that
anyone who intentionally or by gross negligence provides,
organises or promotes gambling activities in Denmark
without a licence shall be liable to a fine or imprisonment.
Section 65 of the Act on Gambling provides that the
transmission of payments of stakes and winnings to and
from an illegal provider of gambling activities as well as
transmission of information via a communication network
to an illegal gambling system is not permitted.
In pursuance of Section 203 of the Criminal Code it is a
criminal offence to make a living by gambling or betting of

In pursuance of Section 204 of the Criminal Code it is a
criminal offence to provide accommodation for or make
arrangements for gambling in a public place when a
licence has not been obtained for such gambling.

The explanatory notes to the Act on Gambling further
state that in in order to maintain an effective protection
of the legal gambling market, the Gambling Authority is
required to continuously monitor the gambling market
and take initiatives in stopping the provision of or giving of
publicity to illegal games through recommendations and
reports to the police.
United Kingdom: The Gambling Act 2005, Section 33,
provides that it is an offence for a person to be providing
gambling facilities in Great Britain without a relevant
licence, permit, notice, or exemption included under
the Act. Further, Section 37 of the Act, states that it is an
offence to be using premises to provide gambling facilities
from, or causing them to be provided, without a relevant
licence under the Act.
Switzerland: Article 50 of the Federal Law on Games
of Chance and Gaming Houses provides that in case the
provisions of the law are violated the Federal Gaming
Board takes all necessary steps to remedy the situation.
It may order provisional measures for the time of the
investigation; in particular it may suspend the licence. The
board may intervene in the operation of a casino if it is
necessary.
If an enforceable order of the board is not fulfilled despite
a previous warning, the board can execute the ordered
action itself at the expense of the casino or publicly
announce that the casino opposes the enforceable order.
Article 55 of the Federal Law on Games of Chance and
Gaming Houses stipulates that it is punishable with
imprisonment of up to one year or with a fine of up to
CHF1m to purposely to operate a casino without a licence,
to get a licence by providing false information or in other
fraudulent manner, who contravenes his due diligence
obligations related to money laundering and who evades
taxes. These penalties can be increased in grave cases, to
up to five years imprisonment in a so called ‘Zuchthaus’,
which is a stricter type of prison in Switzerland or at least
one year imprisonment. The amount of the penalty can be

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Denmark: There are no figures available on the Danish
black market for land-based casinos. However, in its 2013
Annual Report the Danish Gambling Authority noted that:

raised to up to CHF2m. In the case of negligence, only a
fine of up to CHF500, 000 is applicable.
Article 56 provides for custody or a fine of up to
CHF500,000 (In cases of negligence the fine is up to
CHF250 000) for those, who:
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Organises gambling outside of licensed casinos.
During a licensing process or when seeking
permission submits untrue information and influences
the procedure this way.
Puts gaming machines or gaming systems into
operation without the assessment of their compliance
and permission.
Fails to notify the board on something, although it
would be their obligation.
Ignores the request of the board to remedy a violation.
Lets people play, who are subject to exclusion.
Informs persons or third parties that a message
to the supervisory authorities or the competent
law enforcement authorities has been sent or an
investigation has been initiated (tipping off).
Through false statements or another fraudulent way
cause an incorrect assessment of the gambling tax.

Canada: Section 206(1) of the Criminal Code of Canada
defines illegal gambling.
On August 5, 2010, the Canadian government adopted
regulations to give police and prosecutors additional
powers to shut down illegal gaming venues as well as
clamp down on illegal bookmaking. The regulations,
put in place by the Conservative government in August
2010, are not formal amendments to the Criminal Code
but cabinet-level decrees which can be adopted when
parliament is not in session. Attorney General Rob
Nicholson stated that the rules were needed because
criminals were benefiting from a number of loopholes that
made their prosecution difficult and costly. Among the
new gambling offenses considered serious crimes are:
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Keeping a common gaming or betting house.
Betting, pool-selling and bookmaking.
Committing offenses in relation to lotteries and
games of chance.
Cheating while playing a game or in holding the
stakes for a game or in betting.

7.3. Are these enforcement measures
successful?
Austria: There are no public indices to address this,
however, in a Mutual Evaluation Report for Austria’s
anti-money laundering regime published in 2009 it was
noted that suspicious transaction reports for casinos from
2004-2007 totalled four. This was the second lowest of
the Designated Non-Financial Business or Professions in
the evaluation (second only to accountants).

“If we look at the conformity with regulations, we are
pleased that we continue to estimate the illegal gambling
market in Denmark to be of a modest size... [O]verall,
the Act is fitting, necessary and proportionate in terms
of meeting the above objectives to combat problem
gambling and abuse of gambling for money laundering,
fraud or other criminal activities.”
United Kingdom: In its 2013/2014 annual review the
Gambling Commission noted that it made over 140
referrals regarding suspected illegal activities to relevant
licensing authorities for action as well as multi-agency
operations regarding illegal gaming machines.
An example of recent multi-agency enforcement was that
of Big Bluff Poker. This resulted in a conviction in June 2014
and involved a local authority’s Licensing Enforcement
and Trading Standards Teams, the Gambling Commission
and the Metropolitan Police. The Gambling Commission’s
director of regulatory operations, said of the case that:
“This is an excellent example of how a local authority
with Gambling Commission support is dealing with illegal
gambling in whatever guise it is presented.”
Switzerland: In its 2013 Annual Report the Federal
Gaming Board noted that gambling operations in casinos
became more compliant in recent years, a reason being
due to the installation of high definition cameras.
The board also reported that a case is currently ongoing
and is pending before the Federal Supreme Court, with
respect to action against a casino for allegedly failing in
protecting a player. In the case a casino is challenging a
CHF5m fine, which the board imposed on a casino for not
excluding a player who was clearly gambling above his
means.
Canada: There are no public indices to address this,
however, in a report on Money Laundering and Terrorist
Financing Typologies and Trends in Canadian Casinos, it
was observed that the casino sector (over 2008-2009) was
used in cases of money laundering / terrorist financing
purposes in 20 percent of the cases. This compares with
95 percent of cases involving financial institutions, 35
percent involving money services businesses, 15 percent
trust companies, 12 percent law firms, four percent
internet payment systems and one percent prepaid card
services (note: different sectors can be used at the same
time).

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