Italy has officially launched a new licensing regime for online gambling concessions, completing phase-1 of the government’s reorganisation of the gambling sector in 2024.

The final approval of Italy’s new licensing regime was documented via the EU’s Official Journal, authorising the Italian government’s procedure to award new nine-year licences for online gambling concessions.

Submitted to the European Commission (EC) in November, the Italian government’s plans were delayed due to a ‘detailed opinion’ submitted by the Malta Gambling Authority (MGA) on B2B technicalities, which saw the licensing framework placed under an ‘extended standstill period’.

Though delayed, the EC guaranteed changes sought by the Ministry of Finance and Customs and Monopolies Agency (ADM) to apply a €7m authorisation fee for each online gambling license. The new license fee will be implemented alongside a concessionaire’s operating fee of 3%.

Licensing Details and Timelines
The EC guaranteed the Italian..

The government of Peru has been allowed to impose a ‘selective consumption tax’ (ISC) measure on all online gambling activities.

SUNAT, the National Superintendency of Customs and Tax Administration of Peru, issued its determination to the Executive Branch on gambling taxes sought by President Dina Boluarte, as part of her administration’s overhaul of Peru’s gambling laws.

Though Congress had approved the final framework of Bill-2070/2021, to impose a direct 10% tax on gross gaming revenues (GGR) across online sports and casino wagers, in September, Boluarte intervened in proceedings, demanding that a further 1% ‘excise tax’ be applied to all online gambling activities, regardless of whether businesses are licensed by MINCETUR, Peru’s Ministry of Foreign Trade and Tourism.

The measure required a technical evaluation by SUNAT to determine whether the excise tax could be applied to both foreign and domestic businesses, licensed or not.

The tax authority determined that the 1% excise ..

At the close of the year, Italian gambling has received further positive news, as the restrictions of the Dignity Decree on gambling advertising and sponsorships will be reviewed in 2025.

Interviewed this weekend by La Verità, Roberto Alesse, Director General of the ADM, branded the Dignity Decree measures as “hypocritical regulation”, which “cannot be applied by a liberal state.”

The interview primarily focused on the significance of the ADM in Italy’s economic development. The agency carries regulatory oversight of Custom Duties, Alcohol/Tobacco, Gambling, and Energy Consumption—sectors critical to the 2025 Budget.

The ADM has completed year two of reforms under the ‘National Conservative’ program led by PM Giorgia Meloni. In 2023, Roberto Alesse was appointed to replace ‘conservative hardliner’ Marcello Minenna and oversee the agency’s reforms.

Having secured key directives for 2024, Alesse told La Verità that the ADM is ready to launch a new licensing framework for online gambl..

PlayItForward has spearheaded safer gambling efforts for Apricot for a number of years, leading to the initiative playing a critical part in driving forward a variety of schemes across the industry.

Over the course of a three-part SBC News special, three of these, namely Betknowmore, Gordon Moody and Beacon Counselling Trust, elaborated on their own continuing efforts, as well as the role that the partner-led CSR programme has and continues to play.

As the landscape of UK gambling gets set for drastic change via a mandated levy to generate £100m for the research, prevention and treatment of harms, each of the aforementioned trifecta offered reflections on the importance of PlayItForward funding in helping to push them forwards.

Here, Dr Liz Riley, Betknowmore UK’s Head of Research & Evaluation, noted the crucial contribution of Apricot’s scheme in helping to develop fresh, and in some instances never-before-seen, opportunities within the realm of gambling harms.

“When I joined Betk..