2020 And The Gambling Industry – Media, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment – Malta – Mondaq News Alerts

26 November 2020

WH Partners

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2020 is the year of COVID-19, of working from home, of lockdownsand no conference travel, but maybe more importantly for the onlinegaming industry it is amongst others:

Overall, there is a sense across the online gaming industry inEurope that this is the year where the drive originated bygovernments and regulators for tighter regulation, stricterenforcement and more selective licensing has reached anirreversible momentum.

We now have stricter regulation and stricter enforcement of AMLand responsible gambling rules. In the latter case, across severaljurisdictions (although not a stated policy objective to myknowledge) it seems that the regulation of gambling is headingtowards being a public health issue or atleast with public health as a foremost consideration (How elseexplain the very significant restrictions on advertising and ondeposit or stake limits in some jurisdictions).

As you will all know this is against a backdrop drawn inlate 2017 where the European Commission no longer considersthat treating complaints in the area of gambling is a priority: soany hopes of at least partial harmonisation have long gone with thewind.

The Gambling Commission in the UK is considered by many to have- so to say - overzealously led the charge onenforcement and restrictions in recent years, perhaps jointly theSwedish Gambling Authority, an advertising ban in Italy, andGermany now starting a chapter in the regulation of gambling whichhas long been in the making; While Holland is preparing (though notwithout delays) for rolling out regulation in late 2021.

There is a sense this side of the Atlantic that whilstadditional restrictions are being imposed on the gambling industryin Europe indicative of a policy which considers it to be a threatto public health, rather than an entertainment industry withspecificities which require regulation, the contrary is happeningsimultaneously in the US.

I dare suggest that there is an important point of economicpolicy to be considered here: having led the way in the developmentof the modern online gambling industry and having given birth tomost of the major players do European states want to seetheir homegrown businesses being relegated to playing second fiddleto US business? I think that it would be a shame not to make thisconsideration.

In the meantime, we are often asked about so-called new markets,about Ukraine, India, LATAM, Africa. Each comes with several layersof complexity in legal process, operations, compliance, andpayments. The bottom line is that the industry is a young adultnow. Quick wins are few and far between, even outside Europe andthe US.

The overall regulatory ecosystem is now such that it willinevitably lead to speeding up the process of natural selectionamongst operators. The strongest, best informed and most agile willmake it. It remains to see whether the stealthiest will too.

The content of this article is intended to provide a generalguide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be soughtabout your specific circumstances.

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2020 And The Gambling Industry - Media, Telecoms, IT, Entertainment - Malta - Mondaq News Alerts