China issued draft rules that, if enacted, would require exchanges to identify their clients. The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) circulated new guidelines to regulate the country’s Bitcoin industry. The new rules would subject domestic bitcoin exchanges to current banking and anti-money laundering laws. According to the document, Chinese Bitcoin trading platforms would also have […]

China issued draft rules that, if enacted, would require exchanges to identify their clients.

The People’s Bank of China (PBoC) circulated new guidelines to regulate the country’s Bitcoin industry. The new rules would subject domestic bitcoin exchanges to current banking and anti-money laundering laws. According to the document, Chinese Bitcoin trading platforms would also have to collect and identify clients’ information. Further, in order to avoid market manipulation there is a plan to impose the transaction fees.

Exchanges will be required to install special systems that will collect customer information. Suspicious activity will be reported to responsible authorities and PBoC will be in charge of handling such cases.

PBoC distributed the draft rules to the major exchanges and is now seeking their feedback for revision.

The director of PBoC’s Business Administration division Zhou Xuedong recently said that authorities need to explore “long-term regulatory mechanisms” for all digital currency exchanges in the country. He also advised to create a blacklist of exchanges that do not follow set directives.

“A certain level of regulations on Bitcoin trading platforms are indeed necessary,” Zhou Xuedong commented. “Without the regulations, bubbles will be amplified by speculation, so I recommend some red lines should not be crossed.”

However, market insiders pointed out that stricter rules of bitcoin trading may force traders of bitcoin to find alternative platforms, possibly out of the country and at the same time keep the bitcoin price even higher.

“When exchanges lock up most part of the bitcoin stocks, and thus reduce the supply of the currency on the regular market, people may see an even more expensive bitcoin due to investors could go to grey markets for transaction,” an executive of a Beijing-based bitcoin exchange was quoted by Shanghai Daily.

EU Parliament members have published new draft legislation, seeking to regulate digital currencies. The proposal is deliberating to extend the scope of the Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD) and include the virtual currencies like bitcoin. The existing AMLD, published in May 2015, does not include coverage on such currencies. The draft law could possibly end the […]

EU Parliament members have published new draft legislation, seeking to regulate digital currencies. The proposal is deliberating to extend the scope of the Anti-Money Laundering Directive (AMLD) and include the virtual currencies like bitcoin. The existing AMLD, published in May 2015, does not include coverage on such currencies. The draft law could possibly end the anonymity of cryptocurrency users.

The proposal states that “competent authorities should be able to monitor the use of virtual currencies,” while anonymity would be a “hindrance than an asset for virtual currencies” especially when used for criminal purposes. If approved, the draft law will empower financial watchdogs from EU member countries to identify users by their bitcoin addresses.

“To combat the risks related to the anonymity, national Financial Intelligence Units (FIUs) should be able to associate virtual currency addresses to the identity of the owner of virtual currencies,” says the proposal. “In addition, the possibility to allow users to self-declare to designated authorities on a voluntary basis should be further assessed.”

However, the attempts to end the anonymity of cryptocurrency are not seen for the first time. Last year, the European Union Commission proposed an idea to create a central database that would store records of virtual currency users’ identities and wallet addresses. The database was planned to be accessible to financial intelligence units of EU member countries. According to the same proposal, virtual currency exchanges were required to report who and when used their serviced.

It’s clear that both proposals initiated by EU aim to address the issue of governments oversighting unlawful financial tactics conducted by terror groups. Further, it would solve the problem of “avoiding unnecessary obstacles to the functioning of payments and financial markets for ordinary, law-abiding citizens and businesses.”

If cryptocurrencies are included in the new AMLD directives, bitcoin exchanges will lose their bestselling feature – anonymous transactions.

Cypriot attorney-general Costas Clerides commanded the local police to launch investigation into OPAP. The order came after the Greek lottery and betting operator refused to show its financial records for a government audit unless a confidentiality agreement is signed. According to the local press, the treasurer of the House finance committee sought the advice from […]

Cypriot attorney-general Costas Clerides commanded the local police to launch investigation into OPAP. The order came after the Greek lottery and betting operator refused to show its financial records for a government audit unless a confidentiality agreement is signed.

According to the local press, the treasurer of the House finance committee sought the advice from the attorney general and was informed not to sign the agreement. OPAP then declined to reveal requested financial information, leaving the attorney-general no other choice but to launch the investigation.

OPAP was operating in Cyprus since 1969. However, last year the Cypriot government decided to revise its agreement with the operator and announced its intentions to regulate OPAP’s betting games via legislation rather than through a bilateral agreement with Greece. Particularly, Cyprus was seeking to update the arrangement in terms of the government’s share of OPAP’s Cyprus revenue.

Last month, a report on OPAP’s current deal with Cyprus was issued by the auditor-general Odysseas Michaelides. It identified a number of financial practices that the company failed to deliver. For instance, OPAP is required to return around 70% of sales to punters however, it was claimed that only 60% is actually returned to them. All in all, Michaelides estimated that Cyprus is losing around 2 million each month.

Currently there is also the legislation under consideration that would imply OPAP to pay Cyprus 24% of its gross profits annually. In exchange, OPAP would maintain its monopoly over lottery games for a fixed period of time.

A deal for creating the first ever casino resort in Cyprus is expected to be closed in the next few weeks. This information was confirmed by Finance Minister Harris Georgiades during the meeting of the parliamentary committee on development plans and public expenditure control. The minister said that the government is dealing with the final […]

A deal for creating the first ever casino resort in Cyprus is expected to be closed in the next few weeks. This information was confirmed by Finance Minister Harris Georgiades during the meeting of the parliamentary committee on development plans and public expenditure control.

The minister said that the government is dealing with the final steps on signing the agreement. According to Georgiades, only a few details are now remaining to be clarified. The matter will be brought to the cabinet for a decision as soon as possible, so the process can move forward and be concluded.

According to the local press, there will be a study on the project. Once completed, it will move to the National Authority for Gaming and Casinos which will then issue the necessary licence.

The winners of the project Melco International Development Limited together with their partner Hard Rock Casino expect to open casino and training facility in Limassol in 2017.

The developer will have to make sure that the casino has at least 100 gambling tables, more than 1000 slot machines and a 500-rooms hotel. Melco-Hard Rock will have a 15 year exclusivity period, the licence will be valid for 30 years.

Daily fantasy sports (DFS) platform provider Oulala.com received the first ever Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) B2B Skill Games Licence. Oulala announced that the obtained licence was a culmination of a target set four years ago to be „regulated separately from other iGaming activities“. Due to “the lack of proper regulation”, Oulala was unable to operate […]

Daily fantasy sports (DFS) platform provider Oulala.com received the first ever Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) B2B Skill Games Licence.

Oulala announced that the obtained licence was a culmination of a target set four years ago to be „regulated separately from other iGaming activities“. Due to “the lack of proper regulation”, Oulala was unable to operate legally in the UK, therefore it had to acquire a remote gambling licence.

“The authorities in Malta were the first in foretelling the impact of DFS’s potential in Europe, and the MGA was in fact the first regulator to acknowledge our needs,” Benjamin Carlotti, Oulala co-founder and managing director emphasised that the approval represents an important corporate milestone.

“We are incredibly proud to be participating in the development of a licensing framework that regulates skill-based games, fantasy sports included. This was a highly significant step in the right direction, and our hope is that other European regulators will soon follow suit,” added Carlotti.

The MGA spent over two years examining and working on a new licence category for controlled skill games, which specifically regulates DFS and defines it as a game of skill as opposed to gambling.

A controlled skill game licence is valid for five years and can be used for either B2C and/or B2B purposes. It is a subject to a number of requirements, including segregation of operational and players’ funds.

MGA executive chairman Joseph Cuschieri said that MGA is pleased to be issuing a B2B licence for fantasy sports to Oulala under the new skill games regulations.

“Malta’s regulatory framework ensures a high standard of player protection and game fairness whilst allowing operators space for growth and innovation. It is for this reason that operators such as Oulala have chosen Malta as their primary place of establishment” commented Joseph Cuschieri.

In an interview with CalvinAyre.com, Corinne Valetta of the Malta Gaming Authority discusses Malta being at par with other gambling jurisdictions, EU directives and cryptocurrency in the gambling industry. It’s a common example today that government turns to the gambling industry in order to increase the budget for social services. For example, Philippines. According to […]

In an interview with CalvinAyre.com, Corinne Valetta of the Malta Gaming Authority discusses Malta being at par with other gambling jurisdictions, EU directives and cryptocurrency in the gambling industry.

It’s a common example today that government turns to the gambling industry in order to increase the budget for social services. For example, Philippines. According to the State regulator Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corporation, a part of its gross gaming revenue will be used for government’s health programmes. Meanwhile, in the UK, the funds raised via the national lottery and tax were used for Olympic and Paralympic sports.

Corinne Valetta of the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) says that implementing operator-friendly policies is the key in order to support the growth of the gambling industry in any jurisdiction.

She commented so as Malta is currently undergoing a process of streamlining many regulations. According to Valetta, MGA is aware of the increasing compliance demands that operators are facing because of the state-by-state jurisdiction.

“We are aware that we have created a compliance nightmare for operators so we are doing quite a bit to tone this down, streamline it to make it more operator friendly. There are a number of initiatives going on throughout the European Union – if I could just mention a few – I think we have gained significant headway within the expert group on gambling services, which we basically discussed a number of issues which affects the industry,” Valetta said in an interview with CalvinAyre.com.

“We try, as much as possible, at par with other jurisdictions, to create a level playing field. It has been so difficult, you know, to comply with other jurisdictions, we are aware of that. We are trying to achieve the right balance,” Valetta added.

The second important issue pointed by Valetta is bracing for the possible effect of the money laundering directive issued by the European Union. According to Valetta, they are now working on the actual implementation of the directive.

“We have a nationwide national risk assessment, which looked at the very sectors – including the gaming industry but now we’ve also gone into the gaming industry per se, and it is open to products, services, scenarios, services controls and we conducted a risk analysis of each and every product, each of every scenario,” Valetta added.

Regarding the cryptocurrency, Valetta said that virtual currencies should be tackled not only by the MGA but also by other concerned Malta agencies.

“That has been something that we’ve been working for a long time. And we need obviously the financial services center on-board, they are the agency directly dealing with the virtual currencies, we need to have the financial intelligence analysis unit on-board especially considering that virtual currency are now included in the directive. We need to have all the stakeholders on-board and we’ve finally managed to get everybody around the table and we kick-started a project in order to announce more on this position,” Valetta commented.

The Swiss parliament pushed through a vote that required internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to illegal gambling websites. International online gambling operators will be blocked from offering their serviced to nationals within the country. Previously, the upper house accepted the proposal and now the lower section of the House of Representatives gave the […]

The Swiss parliament pushed through a vote that required internet service providers (ISPs) to block access to illegal gambling websites. International online gambling operators will be blocked from offering their serviced to nationals within the country.

Previously, the upper house accepted the proposal and now the lower section of the House of Representatives gave the green light to proceed further.

The question of domain-blocking did not pass without controversy reactions. The Greens and Swiss People’s Party opposed the plans. Franz Grütter, a member of the party, was speaking out against the proposal, saying that the move is “what dictatorships do”.

“Blocking isn’t in step with the liberal, democratic way of thinking” Grütter added.

Initially, the ones behind the website-blocking plan were the casino operators, who have complained about their declining revenues due to the competition from international gambling operators. ISPs were clear they understood who is the beneficiary of the blocking and offered for Swiss casinos to cover the costs that ISPs will incur while proceeding with domain blocking.

Further, ISPs were arguing that such decision in other countries did not stop local gamblers from exploring their international options. Thierry Burkart from the centre-right Radical Party claimed otherwise, saying that “blocking websites works – experience abroad demonstrates that.”

The second important decision taken was the lower house confirming that only casinos based in Switzerland will be eligible for a new Swiss online gambling license.

However, even though many important parts of the matter are already decided, legislators are still not sure whether or not to tax gambling winnings, and if so, by how much. The debate on that is scheduled to continue on March 15.

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) presented its latest report which revealed more information about the levels of gambling participation, attitudes and behaviour of British customers. The survey shows that 48% of respondents aged 16 years or older have placed bets over the past four weeks at the time of the research. This marked a 3% […]

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) presented its latest report which revealed more information about the levels of gambling participation, attitudes and behaviour of British customers.

The survey shows that 48% of respondents aged 16 years or older have placed bets over the past four weeks at the time of the research. This marked a 3% increase compared to the number of people who gambled in 2015. However, this figure dropped to 33% if those that had only played the National Lottery were excluded.

The survey proved that 17% of gamblers put their wagers online, with 97% of them gambling at home.

When it comes to the use of mobile phones or tablet devices in the gambling process, there was a 10% increase in the usage in comparison to 2015, to reach 43% in 2016.

The Programme Director James Green commented on the report saying: “This report paints an important picture of how consumers in Britain choose to gamble – identifying emerging trends and potential risks to the public”.

“We are also now able to provide a more detailed snapshot of online behaviours, which featured for the first time last year. Effective protections come from strong evidence. Our research puts us in a powerful position to better understand the needs of gambling consumers” said James Green.

When it came to marketing, the UKGC found that online gamblers are more likely to make a wager based on advertising (46%) than on social media posts (21%).

The report showed that 0.7% of those that gambled in the past 1 year identified as problem gamblers. This number increased from 0.5% which was reported in 2016.

Now that Czech National Court ruled that the decision to block illegal gambling sites in the country is constitutional, the authorities will move forward with igaming block. This month we saw the launch of PokerStars.cz, the first licensed online poker and casino operator since the new Gambling Act was introduced in Czech Republic on January […]

Now that Czech National Court ruled that the decision to block illegal gambling sites in the country is constitutional, the authorities will move forward with igaming block.

This month we saw the launch of PokerStars.cz, the first licensed online poker and casino operator since the new Gambling Act was introduced in Czech Republic on January 1, 2017.

Even though many international operators left the market months before the deadline, some have chosen to carry on their work as per usual. The government then announced that those not following the decision will be targeted and requested internet service providers (ISPs) to block all domains of sites that are acting against the law.

However, some Czech politicians expressed their concern, questioning whether the domain-blocking plan is constitutional. There were also claims that it is unfair to request ISPs to bear the costs of handling the blocking.

The Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic decided that such arguments do not affect the decision and the blocking is in fact constitutional. The court said that it does not stifle freedom of speech and ISPs need to be a part of the process since they are accessible and have the tools necessary to accomplish the task. According to the court, blocking is “likely the only effective (although not perfect) solution” to the problem of unauthorised gambling service.

The regional press revealed that at least 25 gaming platforms are operating without the official approval and are acting against the current law. Responsible officials will now be able to block any domain that is not licensed.

Russian authorities have approved new penalties for internet service providers (ISPs) who fail to restrict access to unauthorised online gambling domains. A few weeks ago Russia’s Duma adopted Bill 1102471-6, which amended the Russian Federation Code of Administrative Offences. The amendments increased fines for ISPs who fail to block websites that have been flagged by […]

Russian authorities have approved new penalties for internet service providers (ISPs) who fail to restrict access to unauthorised online gambling domains.

A few weeks ago Russia’s Duma adopted Bill 1102471-6, which amended the Russian Federation Code of Administrative Offences. The amendments increased fines for ISPs who fail to block websites that have been flagged by the Russian telecommunications watchdog Roskomnadzor. The bill was signed into law by Vladimir Putin on Wednesday.

The new fines are twice higher than the size of the original penalties. Public officials face fines of RUB 5000 (US $86), while companies will have to pay up to RUB 100,000 ($1,722).

Roskomnadzor identified almost 87,000 offending domains in 2016, which was a 75% increase compared with 2015’s total. Although many of these sites offered porn or undesirable political opinions, 15,900 of the banned domains were gambling sites. This year agency got even busier, banning 1,400 gambling domains in the period of February 15-21.

However, despite active attempts by Roskomnadzor to ban gambling sites, ISPs were slow to take action. A recent study by RBC.ru revealed that 65% of the flagged domains remain accessible to Russians.

Russia has been very aggressive towards online gambling market recently. A few online sports betting licences were issued to domestic operators. In the meantime online casino, poker and other gambling products were prohibited. Last week, Russian authorities issued a legislation that prohibits local financial institutions from processing transactions on behalf of unauthorised online operators.

The government of the United Arab Emirates is planning to form a clear regulatory framework on the usability of Bitcoin and digital currency exchanges in the near future. On January 1, 2017, the Central Bank of UAE published a document “Regulatory Framework for Stored Values and Electronic Payment System,” that contained its vision of leading […]

The government of the United Arab Emirates is planning to form a clear regulatory framework on the usability of Bitcoin and digital currency exchanges in the near future.

On January 1, 2017, the Central Bank of UAE published a document “Regulatory Framework for Stored Values and Electronic Payment System,” that contained its vision of leading market adoption of digital payments and fintech technologies within the UAE.

A part of the document explicitly prohibited the use of virtual currencies, outlawing virtual currency transactions and trading. The document caused controversial discussions within the industry and raised a question whether the bill considers bitcoin and other digital currencies currently in existence.

Mubarak Rashed Khamis Al Mansouri, the governor of the Central Bank of the UAE, confirmed that the document doesn’t consider digital currencies like Bitcoin. Al Mansouri added that the central bank is considering legalising Bitcoin and “developing necessary regulatory frameworks for businesses and exchanges to comply with”.

The Central Bank of UAE may follow the example of the Bank of Canada, which recently announced that digital currencies like Bitcoin need government intervention for it to grow further.

In the report “Canadian Bank Notes and Dominion Notes: Lessons for Digital Currencies”, the researchers stated:

“We conclude that well designed and managed private digital currencies could circulate widely but only with appropriate government regulation to ensure their safety, soundness, and uniformity”.

Betting firms in Kenya have warned the local government that proposed law to regulate gambling in the country will do more harm than good to the industry. They believe that the law proposed by MP Jakoyo Midiwo will cause stagnation in the growing business of gambling and will prevent Kenya from benefiting of any potential […]

Betting firms in Kenya have warned the local government that proposed law to regulate gambling in the country will do more harm than good to the industry. They believe that the law proposed by MP Jakoyo Midiwo will cause stagnation in the growing business of gambling and will prevent Kenya from benefiting of any potential tax revenues.

The Association of Gaming Operators of Kenya (AGOK) called the bill misguided and asked to defer it until further consultations are conducted and a compromise of two sides is reached.

“The Bill requires significant amendments. It would not be the same Bill as it was at the first reading,” said AGOK chairman Ronald Karauri. “There appears to be a concerted targeting of the industry through measures that are designed to cripple the industry,” he added.

The bill proposes to double the betting tax (from 7.5% to 15%), to increase the lottery tax from 5% to 20% and the gaming tax from 12% to 20%. Karauri believes that such changes are breaching the Constitution and will create unsustainable business conditions.

Further, AGOK chairman questions Midiwo’s research on problem gambling and states that “it has never been scientifically proven that betting is addictive”.
“It is my personal belief that if there was a problem with betting, it would not grow,” commented Karauri.

A National Assembly committee is willing to negotiate and seek for a solution that is more acceptable for betting firms, but the bill can no longer be deferred.
“There is some urgency in the matter,” commented David Were, the committee chairman.