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Norwegian Lottery Authority Proposes Amendments To Casino Cruise Gambling Regulation
By Shane Addinall Apr 21, 2020 LegalityNorway’s Lottery Authority proposes four amendments to the casino cruise gambling legislation which it believes will allow for more casino games, limit financial risk and protect against the risk of money laundering.While the world seems to be holding its breath waiting to see where the next few weeks and months will take us the Norwegian Lottery Authority is one group that is looking to the future.
In particular, the Lottery Authority is proposing amendments to the current regulations surrounding gambling on cruise ships as they travel between Norwegian and foreign ports looking at game types, bet and win levels, rule clarification and improving Responsible Gambling initiatives.
Proposed Regulation Amendments
Here is an overview of the proposed regulation updates as requested by the Lottery Authority:
✓Available Games & Responsible Gambling
Under the current legislation, cruise liners are specifically only allowed to offer slot machines, roulette, and card games. The Lottery Authority proposed amending the legislation to also include “table games” and allow for future inclusion of games that do not specifically fit the current cards or roulette definition.
They do propose that the current limitation of table games only being those that have players playing against a croupier and not against one another stay in place.
The decision to focus on croupier based games goes hand-in-hand with their proposal for increased training in spotting and managing problem gambling behaviours. With intervention being a job requirement for all croupiers.
✓New Bet & Win Limits
The Lottery Authority has also proposed that the maximum bet and maximum win limits for all games are standardised. Their proposed limits are for maximum bets to be set at NOK 600 (approximately €50) while maximum wins per game are limited to NOK 3000 (around €260). In their view, it makes the gambling experience more standardised without contributing to problematic behaviours.
✓Rule Clarification
With the implementation of standardised wins and bets, they would like to do away with the “regulation of multiples” which currently governs these values. Under the current regulation, each game has a different win value as they are set as multiples of the current maximum bet which in some instances would cause a conflict with the newly proposed values.
✓Card Payments As AML
The Lottery Authority has found that given the cash transaction basis of casino cruise gambling it poses a moderate money laundering concern. They propose that both debit cards and credit cards become authorised methods for purchasing casino vouchers as this allows for Anti Money Laundering based monitoring and reporting on who deposited and withdrew funds at the casinos.
However, to ensure there is no increased danger of compulsive gambling behaviour the cards will not activate on an individual slot machine, they will only become an approved method for purchasing vouchers at kiosks.
Forward Facing Regulator
It is heartening to see the Lottery Authority planning for the future of the industry in a manner that not only balances customer entertainment but also considers safeguarding at-risk gamblers and addresses potential money laundering risks in a manner that doesn’t feel forced or oppressive.
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