After a year of operating in the UK, daily fantasy sports operator FanDuel has announced that it has shut down its UK activities. The announcement was sent to its players via e-mail and also confirmed its market closure via Twitter. The following message appeared on FanDunel’s UK homepage since Friday: “You made the 2016/17 season […]

After a year of operating in the UK, daily fantasy sports operator FanDuel has announced that it has shut down its UK activities.

The announcement was sent to its players via e-mail and also confirmed its market closure via Twitter.

The following message appeared on FanDunel’s UK homepage since Friday:
“You made the 2016/17 season a debut to remember. Almost £1 million was won by fantasy football enthusiasts in the UK. Thank you for your support”
“Unfortunately, we will not be offering contests in the UK this season. We hope to be back in the future, bringing you more of the games you love.”

FanDuel’s UK players have already received refunds to their accounts. Meanwhile, FanDuel competitor DraftKings remains active within the UK fantasy sports market.

The first law for Israel that poses a number of restrictions on the internet has been approved on July 24th, by the Israeli government, which permits the Court to block or remove internet sites that promote illegal gambling, prostitution, child pornography, online dealing of hard drugs, crime and terrorism. If a provider does not comply […]

The first law for Israel that poses a number of restrictions on the internet has been approved on July 24th, by the Israeli government, which permits the Court to block or remove internet sites that promote illegal gambling, prostitution, child pornography, online dealing of hard drugs, crime and terrorism.

If a provider does not comply with the new legislation, can be jailed for two years.

In addition, courts can also order search engines to remove the websites from search results. As per the law, the affected parties must be present in court unless they were summoned and failed to appear.

Gilad Erdan, Public Security Minister, said: “We are closing an enforcement gap of many years during which the existing law was disconnected from the migration of crime to the internet. The new law will give the police the necessary tools to fight criminals, felons, and inciters who have moved their activities online.”

A lot of people complained that the new legislation is the beginning of a very slippery inclination towards additional censorship.
However, the legislation dictates that groups under scrutiny have the right to appeal the decisions.

Two online gaming operators, the Gibraltar-based Coral Interactive and LeoVegas, have been imposed by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) as their campaigns have considered to be misleading by the regulator. ASA took action as there were several complaints by people who interpreted the content of their ads as irresponsible and misleading. Coral Interactive’s ad featured […]

Two online gaming operators, the Gibraltar-based Coral Interactive and LeoVegas, have been imposed by the Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) as their campaigns have considered to be misleading by the regulator. ASA took action as there were several complaints by people who interpreted the content of their ads as irresponsible and misleading.

Coral Interactive’s ad featured footballers with a voice-over stating, “The beautiful game you can watch it or you can get involved in it with the latest Coral action. So are you a spectator or are you a player? You decide. Coral. Get in on the action.”
Two complainants took issue with the phrasing ‘peer pressure’, suggesting that the only true fans are those who play – either on the pitch or through making bets.

Coral responded that the voice-over was mentioning “whether a viewer was interested in having a bet as well as watching a match.” and that the ad was “a very straight and matter of fact read,” and the “You decide” line was a critical part of the ad and handed control to the spectator.

ASA said: “We concluded the ad was likely to suggest peer pressure to gamble, disparage abstention and unduly suggest that gambling could enhance personal qualities and therefore breached the code”.

Also, the Swedish operator LeoVegas received similar complaints for releasing promotion that were not clearly identifiable after a post by the company via the social networking platform Twitter, in which read “It still hasn’t been fixed! Big wins for Brits after online casino’s ‘glitch’.” The Tweet was linked to the free spins promotion – but it was flagged to the regulator that it didn’t look like an advert and seemed to be suggesting players could win more because of a system glitch.

LeoVegas said that the ad was created by its marketing partner Nyheter and appeared as “Sponsored” or “Promoted”.
“We considered that this would entice consumers into clicking through to see how they may be able to take advantage of the glitch which may increase their chances of winning.” ASA said.

The European online gaming operator, GoWild, announced that it has been awarded by the UK Gambling Commission a Remote Gambling Operating Licence. The acquisition of the licence is really a great achievement for the company and a point of great pride since the United Kingdom is considered one of the largest and most powerful gambling […]

The European online gaming operator, GoWild, announced that it has been awarded by the UK Gambling Commission a Remote Gambling Operating Licence.

The acquisition of the licence is really a great achievement for the company and a point of great pride since the United Kingdom is considered one of the largest and most powerful gambling markets in the world.

Also, it is a great progress for the company with regard to the general objectives for further expansion in regulated gaming markets.

This achievement follows other triumphs in FY17 such as the opening of the company’s Maltese offices, the expansion in the Nordic markets and this year’s successfully migrating over a decade’s worth of business from Microgaming, in-house to the proprietary GoWild HERO gaming system.

CEO, Itai Zak, said: “With a strong focus on expanding in regulated markets, licensing by the UK Gambling Commission is welcome news to GoWild,” “The UK is one of the biggest, oldest, and most respected gaming communities in the world, and operating there will allow us to increase our exposure, reach new audiences, and improve the local gaming experience. We look forward to opening our virtual doors in the UK, and successfully serving the local gaming needs.”

Netherlands’ top court “District Court of The Hague”, ruled last week that the Dutch Gaming Authority, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has the right to fine iGaming operators that were found to have breached Netherlands gambling laws, after several fined gaming operators complained that the Regulatory Body punished them unrighteously. On July 13th, the Court found that the […]

Netherlands’ top court “District Court of The Hague”, ruled last week that the Dutch Gaming Authority, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has the right to fine iGaming operators that were found to have breached Netherlands gambling laws, after several fined gaming operators complained that the Regulatory Body punished them unrighteously.

On July 13th, the Court found that the regulator was within its rights to impose six-figure fines against to Co-Gaming Limited (formerly Come On), based in Malta and ONISAC Limited and Mansion Online Casino Limited, both based in Gibraltar. Even though it’s said that the companies have paid their fines, they decided to appeal their cases to the Court hoping to get back the money that they had been fined.

The fines included €180,000 against the Maltese company ComeOn Europe in 2015 after regulators found that they had targeted Dutch players without being licensed to do so and a joint total of €150,000 for the Gibraltar-licensed ONISAC and Mansion Online Casino in 2014 for doing business with Dutch punters without the KSA’s authorization.

Kansspelautoriteit said: “The Gaming Authority is pleased that the court based its policy to address these providers in the interests of the consumer.” , “The current law now does not provide the opportunity to legally bet online. Operators therefore do not bind to strict conditions. With illegal online gambling players (consumers) face risks such as manipulated games and gambling debts.”

The organising company of (MIGS) Malta iGaming Seminar and iGaming Business, the leading publishing house and event specialists, have announced a partnership to jointly organise the Malta-based c-level iGaming Conference. Michael Caselli, Editor in Chief of iGaming Business said “We are very excited about this new partnership. We have been a fan and a major […]

The organising company of (MIGS) Malta iGaming Seminar and iGaming Business, the leading publishing house and event specialists, have announced a partnership to jointly organise the Malta-based c-level iGaming Conference.

Michael Caselli, Editor in Chief of iGaming Business said “We are very excited about this new partnership. We have been a fan and a major supporter of MIGS since its early years and are happy now that we are planting some seeds in Malta”.

The two companies have started to work on new ambitious plans for MIGS and as a result of this new partnership, it has been decided to move the event to next year.

Alex Pratt, Managing Director of iGaming Business said “Owing to the timing of the negotiations to close this deal, both teams feel that there is too little of a time-frame to bring the necessary resources together and pull off an event better than our delegates are accustomed to attending. We will start immediately to set new dates and look forward to working to develop MIGS further into the leading executive conference in Malta.”

Over the last eight years MIGS has cemented itself as a leading conference in the Mediterranean that attracts c-level delegates from across the globe. Previous speakers include Calvin Ayre, Declan Hill, Sue Schneider of eGaming brokerage, as well as Pontus Lindwell from Betsson amongst other major names.

Jeffrey Buttigieg, Director of MIGS said, “We are delighted to announce this great milestone in our history. iGaming Business will add an amazing arsenal of expertise to our event whilst we will work together to further develop MIGS as the number one conference in Europe.”

Article source: http://www.maltaigamingseminar.com/migs-igaming-business-form-strategic-partnership/

On Tuesday, the Irish government has approved a legislation that will change the age limit for gambling to 18 years old, under the new ‘Courts and Civil Liabilities Bill’ (Miscellaneous Provisions), paving the way for the modernization of the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 as per The Journal Ireland. The Courts and Civil Liberties (Miscellaneous […]

On Tuesday, the Irish government has approved a legislation that will change the age limit for gambling to 18 years old, under the new ‘Courts and Civil Liabilities Bill’ (Miscellaneous Provisions), paving the way for the modernization of the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956 as per The Journal Ireland.

The Courts and Civil Liberties (Miscellaneous Provisions) bill was successfully passed yesterday afternoon, by several ministers from the Irish Cabinet. The now law will be put into action when it will be fully published in the upcoming weeks.

According to the new regulation, users are not allowed to purchase a lottery ticket or place a bet in case they are not 18 years old. Currently, the Gaming and Lotteries Act of 1956 allows 16-year-old citizens to enter gaming venues or amusement halls in which there may be slot machines and sports betting events.

Taoiseach, Leo Varadkar said: “This is an important issue. It is also important the Government puts in place a proper regulatory structure around gambling, both to regulate an industry from which many people get much pleasure but also one which gives rise to people becoming addicted, impoverished and unwell as a consequence. Legislation in this area is long overdue,”.

Today a White Paper proposing major reforms to Malta’s Gaming Legal Framework is been published by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), which is open for public consultation for around five weeks. Both Silvio Schembri, Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services and Joseph Cuschier, Executive Chairman of the MGA presented the White Paper today morning. Gaming laws […]

Today a White Paper proposing major reforms to Malta’s Gaming Legal Framework is been published by the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA), which is open for public consultation for around five weeks. Both Silvio Schembri, Parliamentary Secretary for Financial Services and Joseph Cuschier, Executive Chairman of the MGA presented the White Paper today morning.

Gaming laws are to be repealed and replaced by a single primary Act entitled the Gaming Act, together with subsidiary legislation covering horizontally the main areas of regulation as well as a series of directives and guidelines issued by the Malta Gaming Authority as the single regulator of this sector as per the MGA.

Silvio Schembri, Parliamentary Secretary for Digital Economy said today that a number of public consultations, and research initiatives had been conducted before the new law was drafted. “The new legal framework will create an environment where consumer protection, compliance and best practices are at heart,” “The government, he added, knew it had to act fast to enable Malta to be at the forefront of the global gaming economy.”

Main legal changes:
• – Replacing the current multi-licence system with a system in which there will be two different types of licences – a Business-to-Consumer (B2C) licence and a Business-to-Business (B2B) licence – covering different types of activities across multiple distribution channels;
• – Moving towards an objective-based rather than excessively prescriptive regulatory approach, to allow for innovation whilst ensuring that the regulatory objectives are attained;
• – Broadening the regulatory scope to increase MGA oversight and allow for intervention where necessary and in a proportionate manner;
• – Widening the MGA’s powers under the compliance and enforcement functions to better achieve the regulatory objectives, in line with concurrent developments on anti-money laundering and funding of terrorism obligations;
• – Segmenting the Key Official role into various key functions within a licensed activity, requiring approval, for direct scrutiny and targeted supervisory controls, thereby raising the bar for persons of responsibility within a gaming operation;
• – Strengthening the player protection framework by formalising the mediatory role of the MGA’s Player Support Unit, enshrining segregation of player funds at law and moving towards a unified self-exclusion database across both remote and land-based delivery channels;
• I- ntroducing new and more effective processes for criminal and administrative justice, including the allocation of appeals from decisions of the Authority to the Administrative Review Tribunal and the introduction of a distinction between administrative and criminal offences;
• I- ntroducing the concept of administration to protect an operation in distress and, if necessary, to assist the winding down of an operation, thereby protecting jobs and player funds;
• – Moving towards automated reporting, facilitating adherence to regulatory obligations and strengthening the Authority’s oversight;
• – Bolstering the Authority’s role in the fight against manipulation of sports competitions by introducing new obligations on operators to monitor sports betting and report suspicious bets, in line with the efforts being made by the National Anti-Corruption Task Force in which the Authority also participates actively;
• – Streamlining taxation into one flow with two main layers; and
• – Exempting B2B licensees from gaming tax, thus increasing Malta’s competitiveness as a hub for these services providers.

Queries and requests for clarifications with respect to the content of the document, as well as contributions/feedback from interested parties may be sent by email to legaloverhaul.mga@mga.org.mt
Closing date for feedback on the aforementioned consultation is Wednesday, 23rd August, 2017.

The global leader in sports betting, SBTech, has launched www.winmasters.com.cy, becoming the first sportsbook platform supplier to enter the Cypriot market, just six months after the agreement was signed between SBTech and Winmasters. Winmasters becomes one of the eighth operators to be awarded a Class B license by the Cypriot National Betting Authority (NBA). The […]

The global leader in sports betting, SBTech, has launched www.winmasters.com.cy, becoming the first sportsbook platform supplier to enter the Cypriot market, just six months after the agreement was signed between SBTech and Winmasters.

Winmasters becomes one of the eighth operators to be awarded a Class B license by the Cypriot National Betting Authority (NBA).
The sportsbook platform will be in both Greek and English languages, with all major European payment methods available to Cypriot players.

Christos Protopapas, Sales and Operations Director at Winmaster, said: “I’m delighted that our ongoing relationship with SBTech continues to bear fruit. The power and flexibility of the company’s sportsbook and back office systems, as well as the quality of its real-time reporting, is delivering solid growth for us across the board, and the speed with which our Cyprus launch has been achieved gives me great confidence that we will attain all our goals in this exciting new market.”

SBTech CEO Richard Carter commented: “The successful on-schedule launch of our complete tier-1 solution for Winmasters’ Cyprus operation is thanks to the hard work of all our teams and the strength of our partnership with this uniquely dynamic operator. I’m particularly pleased that once again, SBTech is the first sports betting provider in a newly regulated market, a trend that we intend to maintain.”

The Swedish Gaming operator, Betsson in a one-page press release that appeared on its corporate website on Friday, has announced that it has written to the European Commission outlining what it calls “the continued breach by the Dutch authorities of EU law”. The action follows the five-year delay from Holland to pass laws to bring […]

The Swedish Gaming operator, Betsson in a one-page press release that appeared on its corporate website on Friday, has announced that it has written to the European Commission outlining what it calls “the continued breach by the Dutch authorities of EU law”.

The action follows the five-year delay from Holland to pass laws to bring its gambling regulatory framework in line with EU requirements and follows new stricter rules regarding unlicensed operators serving Dutch players that came into effect in June.

Ulrik Bengtsson, CEO and President of Betsson AB, said on the press release: “Betsson view the ongoing confusion in the Dutch market as unacceptable. We have therefore submitted an official complaint to the European Commission. The current law in the Netherlands is not in line with EU law and we have therefore asked the Commission to re-open the infringement proceedings that were initiated against the Netherlands in 2006”

Betsson also decried the Dutch gaming regulators Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) for overstepping their bounds: “A compliant legal framework would remove the confusion and instability that the actions of the Dutch gaming authority, KSA, are creating for Dutch consumers at present. In addition, Betsson trusts the Commission to ensure that the KSA immediately refrains from continued enforcement of a law, which has already been the subject of infringement proceedings by the Commission.”

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has unveiled on Wednesday its new enforcement strategy, for gambling operators who violate the terms of their licensing agreements to face higher penalties. The plans include to reduce the possibility for the operator to renew his licence. The strategy came into force since Wednesday, following a three-month consultation with industry […]

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has unveiled on Wednesday its new enforcement strategy, for gambling operators who violate the terms of their licensing agreements to face higher penalties. The plans include to reduce the possibility for the operator to renew his licence.

The strategy came into force since Wednesday, following a three-month consultation with industry stakeholders entitled “Changes to our enforcement strategy: putting the consumer first”. The UKGC urged all operators active in the UK market to familiarise themselves with the updated policy.

Also, the UKGC intends to place all regulatory tools, including reviews to operator licences and personal management licences, on a level playing field, removing the current bias in favor of the settlement.

The Chief executive of the UKGC, Sarah Harrison, said: “We will use the full range of enforcement powers to ensure operators put customers first and raise standards.” “The industry can be assured that we will use our powers in a targeted way, and consumers and the public can be assured we will take robust and effective action when gambling companies don’t meet their obligations.”

Harrison added: “This enforcement policy will set tougher sanctions for operators who repeatedly or systemically fail their customers.” “We want to work with operators who want to raise standards; we will take tough action against those who fail customers. Operators who persistently fail customers will face a hostile response from the regulator.”

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) and the Esports Integrity Coalition (ESIC) have agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to keep integrity of eSports and online betting. With this collaboration, the two parties will work together to prevent the illegal manipulation of esports events and competitions. Established in 2015, ESIC is a non […]

The Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) and the Esports Integrity Coalition (ESIC) have agreed on a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in order to keep integrity of eSports and online betting. With this collaboration, the two parties will work together to prevent the illegal manipulation of esports events and competitions.

Established in 2015, ESIC is a non profit organisation whose mission is to deal with issues of common interest facing the esports community, including disrepute, cheating, doping, DDoS attacks, match-fixing and the use of online attacks such as denial-of-service. MGA and licensed operators in Malta will provide information on suspicious betting patterns to help the ESIC with its own investigations into such activities.

Ian Smith, ESIC Integrity Commissioner, said: “We are delighted that the Malta Gaming Authority has agreed to work with us in making esports a safer wagering environment. The MGA is a very highly respected regulator of sports betting and it has been a pleasure developing this information sharing mechanism with them. Adding the experience and vital information of our other partners in the information exchange to the Authority’s intelligence database and vice versa will undoubtedly strengthen all our efforts considerably.”

The MGA’s chairman, Joseph Cuschieri, said: “I am very pleased that we signed this MoU with ESIC. Keeping abuse and crime out of sports betting is high on our agenda and the MGA will always be at the forefront to collaborate in such matters both locally and internationally”