SBC News

The Senate of Brazil has received its first update from rapporteurs who will evaluate the economic and integrity threats posed by Brazil’s new federal regime for online gambling.

Commonly referred to as ‘Bets’, on 1 January, Brazil launched its federal online gambling marketplace. The Ministry of Finance has granted licence authorisations to 70 businesses, with 14 licences approved to operate brands from 1 January, while others await regulatory approval.

Accompanying developments saw relevant authorities receive the first update from rapporteurs leading Commission of Inquiry (CPI) investigations aimed at reviewing the laws, standards, and protections of the Bets regime.

Led by Senator Soraya Thronicke (Podemos-MS), the ‘CPI of Bets’ will commence its assessment of the economic risks associated with online gambling starting on 30 April. Partnered with Senator Dr Hiran Goncalves (PP-RR), Thronicke is tasked with spearheading a critical investigation into the vulnerabilities of online ..

As of 1 January 2025, Dutch gambling licences will be governed by a new ‘General Policy of Fines’, as mandated by Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), the Gambling Authority of the Netherlands.

As stated by the KSA: “The New General Policy of Fines aims to ensure penalties are appropriate and serve as punitive and preventive measures. It seeks to deter violations and promote compliance with gambling regulations.”

The KSA has broadened the scope of fines to cover specific violations determined by the Remote Gambling Act (KOA) and the Netherlands Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act (Wwft).

The new fine policy will be applied across five categories, with basic fines ranging from €500 in Category 1 to €2,000,000 in Category 5.

Category 5 fines will be exclusively applied to Wwft violations. For non-Wwft violations falling under Category 4, the KSA may also impose a turnover-related fine amounting to 3% of the offender’s gross turnover to enhance the impact of the fine on the..

NHS England has warned of a significant increase in patient care demands for the treatment of gambling addiction, an problem fuelled by gambling adverts promoted over the festive period.

Concerns about the capacity to meet patient demands were raised by Dr Matt Gaskell, Head of the NHS Northern Gambling Service, and Claire Murdoch, the National Director for NHS Mental Health Services.

As noted, gambling addiction referrals “have risen by 130%, with almost 2,000 people referred between April and September 2023 compared to just over 800 in the same period in 2022.”

Expanding dedicated services for the treatment of gambling harms, the NHS has doubled the number of problem gambling clinics in England, totalling 15, offering support from trained psychologists, therapists, psychiatrists, and peer support teams.

Specialist clinics are now located in Sheffield, London, Milton Keynes, Thurrock, Bristol, Derby, Liverpool, Preston, Leeds, Newcastle, Manchester, Southampton, Stoke-on-Trent, an..

There is not a lot of research surrounding links between neurodiversity and problem gambling, but there is little doubt among those with lived experience of gambling harm that neurodiverse people are uniquely vulnerable to gambling addiction, writes Steve Hoare, Player Protection Hub Editor.

“Regardless of whether there is research on this or not, there is definitely a correlation between neurodivergence and gambling addiction,” highlighted Chris Gilham, a trustee at Gambling Harm UK, to an audience of experts in neurodiversity at a webinar organised by the Gambling Lived Experience Network (GLEN).

Gilham lived with a crippling gambling addiction from the age of 30 to 36-years-old. The gambling compounded a dependency on alcohol that sent him to rock bottom before he sought help.

As someone who was never interested in gambling or exposed to it before he was 30, Gilham was baffled as to why he suddenly developed a gambling problem.

It took him three years of recovery, hard work an..

The Dutch gambling authority, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has issued a €400k fine to Optdeck Service Ltd, otherwise known as Unibet.

According to the regulator, the betting brand had allowed the signing up of players who were listed on the Netherlands’ national self-exclusion registry CRUKS.

The scheme works in the same way as other similar projects throughout Europe, where once a player has been registered in the system, licensed gambling providers have a regulatory obligation to refuse them any type of gambling service, whether it’s physical or online.

An alert was raised with the KSA back in mid-2023 that Unibet had failed to carry out the necessary checks during the 2022 World Cup, which was confirmed after the regulator’s subsequent investigation. As per official information, Optdeck had not appealed the fine.

CRUKS is a core component of the Dutch gambling market. To ensure that this remains the case, the KSA has previously launched a number of marketing campaigns targeting ..

Ahead of the festive holidays, GamCare has warned people with gambling issues to be extra careful not to endanger themselves further.

A YouGov survey, commissioned by the gambling charity and focusing on more than 4,000 UK adults suffering from problem gambling, has shown that three-fifths (59%) of those prone to gambling harms say they are more likely to gamble at Christmas than the rest of year – a 37% increase from 2023.

Additional insights from the survey highlight that 53% of people gambling at harmful levels have spent money – otherwise needed for food, presents, or other seasonal expenses – on gambling.

Again, 53% of surveyed respondents report an increase in stress or anxiety levels due to gambling, while 56% say that gambling has made them more isolated.

GamCare has put its own advisers on standby to help anyone who might need support during the holidays, and its National Gambling Helpline remains open for people with gambling issues or those close to them who might be s..

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..