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Online Gambling Regulators Play Hardball in 2024
By Shane Addinall Mar 02, 2024 LegalityIn the ongoing battle for the safety, financial viability, and community safety of regulated online gambling jurisdictions, three regulators have stepped up their game and hit back hard at non-compliant operators and licensees.One thing that has become glaringly obvious as one reviews the successes and failures of online gambling regulators worldwide is that it is an incredibly tenuous balance that needs to be maintained.
On the one hand, it is essential to ensure that players have enough casino games and brand variety to keep them engaged while ensuring that licensed sites are not running wild and doing things that might negatively impact the online casino player community. This is all further complicated by a host of unlicensed gambling operators who are circling in the hopes of finding a weakness they can exploit to draw players to their offerings.
Several gambling regulators have kicked off 2024 by showing licensees and black market operators that they are not to be trifled with.
Spillemyndigheden Blocks 83 Gambling Sites
The Danish Gambling Authority is known for its measured approach to dealing with the challenges in its region. However, do not let their seemingly slow reaction time fool you into thinking they are unaware of the shenanigans.
In what can only be called a ‘ban wave’, Spillemyndigheden was given the green light by a Danish court to block 83 unlicensed gambling websites from being displayed in the country. All the newly banned sites were found to offer illegal games of chance like video slots and skin betting and have been blocked by all Danish internet service providers.
Anders Dorph, Head of the Spillemyndigheden, confirmed that while this type of action is not the regulator's ideal solution to the problem, these sites had the added downside of being very lenient when it came to age verification and other age-limiting regimes. As such, it was decided that these sites merited a more drastic penalty to protect at-risk groups.
Finland Gives BML Group the Boot
With recent reports of an increase in problem gambling numbers, Finland has been taking a more severe approach to securing its online casino, lottery, and betting markets. In particular, a survey showed that 6.6% of male respondents were at risk of developing compulsive behaviours.
As part of its ongoing drive to limit the number of unsafe gambling practices within its borders, the Finland National Police Board (NPB) has decided to begin banning operators that it feels are intentionally flouting its Gambling Act.
The first group to fall foul of this new tough-love directive is the Betsson Casino parent company, BML. Last year, the BML Group was fined €2.4 million, which it has managed to stave off in court for the time being. However, the operator's ongoing battle with Finnish authorities has finally come to a head, with the company officially being blacklisted and banned from the country.
In a post, Heikki Koivula, the Head of Compliance for Legal Gaming, noted that this is the first time the country has chosen this course of action and heralds a new era in how the government intends to tackle black market operators.
Ksa Doles Out a Massive €19.7 Million Fine
Not to be outdone by its peers, Kansspelautoriteit (Ksa) has chosen to hit unlicensed casino groups where it hurts most – their wallets. The Malta-based gambling group, Gammix Limited, has had a tumultuous relationship with the Dutch Gaming Authority for several years, having even been served a cease and desist notice in 2022, which they chose to fight rather than comply with.
Ksa found that despite repeated demands for them to tighten up its player registration process and marketing initiatives, the company failed to prove any improvements in either area.
Fast forward to 2024, and Gammix Limited has been slapped with the largest fine ever recorded by the Ksa. The company has been ordered to pay €19.7 million, comprised of weekly €1.4 million fines for operating illegally in the Netherlands in 2022.
What must really chafe, is that this is on top of the €4 million the Dutch government already claimed from the operator in 2023! This brings their total penalty to €23.7 million and counting.
Despite their ongoing dismissal of the regulator's requirements, Gammix intends to fight the fine in court, claiming that the "majority of the claims are unproven and unfounded". We will keep on top of this landmark case as it develops.
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