SBC News - Player Protection Hub

eCogra certified as testing lab of Brazil SPA

SBC NewsApril 15, 20240226 views

eCogra has been certified as a ‘technical assurance’ agency by the Secretariat of Betting and Prizes (SPA), the supervisory authority of Brazil’s imminent Bets market.

Ordinance 588 published by the SPA declares eCogra as a certified laboratory to carry out technical assessments of betting systems, platforms, gaming studios, and lottery terminals for the Bets market.

Founded in 2003, eCogra provides technical evaluation and regulatory assurance for all major licensed and regulated iGaming markets.

For Brazil, eCogra had worked on the necessary documentation and evaluation procedures of the Bets market, the framework that will be used to launch Brazil’s imminent federal sports betting and online gambling marketplace.

The certification for Brazil is valid for three years from the date of publication, provided eCogra maintains its legal, tax, labor (or ‘labour’ for British English), and technical qualifications as demonstrated in the accreditation process.

Previously, eCogra had been..

Spillemyndigheden sees self-exclusion registry reach 50,000 in April

SBC NewsApril 15, 20240217 views

The Danish Gambling Authority, Spillemyndigheden, has released the latest data from ROFUS, the country’s self-exclusion register, highlighting that the number of signees stands at 50,000 in April.

ROFUS was first established in 2012 as part of a wider political strategy to curb gambling harm in Denmark.

The scheme has since been quite successful in providing player support, going from the 1,500 registrants at the end of 2012 to the current 50,000 listed individuals.

This success has been significantly boosted by a number of regulations aimed at promoting ROFUS. At the start of 2020, licensed online gambling providers and land-based casinos became obliged to refer to the scheme across all of their gambling products. This practice also became a requirement for land-based betting in 2023.

When signing up for ROFUS, players are presented with multiple choices on the duration of the self-exclusion period. This varies between 24 hours, one, three or six months. Of these, the most pre..

Croatia snap election sees gambling overhaul become a bargaining chip

SBC NewsApril 12, 20240213 views

A pledge has been made by MOST, the ‘Sovereign Party of Croatia’, to overhaul the nation’s gambling laws by implementing a ban on advertising and introducing new protections to curb addiction.

MOST’s pledge carries significance as next week Croatia will hold a snap election on Wednesday, 17 April, due to the fallout of the coalition government led by the Croatian Democratic Union (HDZ).

Party leader, Nikola Grmoja, MOST’s candidate for President declared that the opposition needed to wake up and recognize “Croatia’s problem with gambling addiction that is not discussed within political circles”.

Grmoja noted “frightening statistics” of gambling trends in Croatia, as “40% of juveniles are gambling on a daily basis” and public health agencies report that “40,000 Croats are addicted to gambling, a figure impacting 200,000 families”.

Ahead of next week’s election, MOST published its ‘programme to fight gambling addiction’, pledging to implement a blanket ban on gambling advertising, by..

GambleAware national support network ‘rebuilding people’s lives’

SBC NewsApril 12, 20240199 views

GamCare has revealed that thousands of people have been supported through the National Gambling Support Network, as the initiative celebrates its one-year anniversary.

The charity also highlighted the GambleAware-commissioned network’s short waiting times, with people seeking support for problem gambling being offered a treatment session in three and a half days on average between October-December 2023.

Anna Hargrave, Chief Commissioning Officer at GambleAware, stated: “The National Gambling Support Network is designed to prevent the escalation of harms associated with gambling.

“The network provides people with easy access to treatment and support wherever they are across Great Britain. It is heartening to hear the positive impact the services have on people’s lives and the difference they make.”

The data also shows that organisations within the Network – which is highlighting the free support available ahead of this weekend’s Grand National – contacted those seeking treatment in..

ANJ sees ‘observable results’ on reducing excessive gambling in France

SBC NewsApril 11, 20240263 views

Jake Pollard
Efforts to reduce problem gambling are making progress but remain a priority, says French gambling regulator ANJ. The monitoring policy instituted by the Autorité Nationale des Jeux with the aim of preventing excessive gambling has paid off and produced “observable results” over the past 12 months, said the French gambling regulator.

ANJ published its fourth report on the actions of online operators, those of the two offline monopolies FDJ (lottery) and PMU (horse racing tote) and the 203 land-based casinos, seven gaming clubs and 235 racecourses operating in France, and said that the objective of reducing the number of problem gamblers, ANJ’s strategic priority for the next two years, “must be pursued by all gambling operators”.

According to a study published by the Observatoire des Jeux in 2019, gross revenues from problem gamblers accounted for 38.3% of the French industry’s total figure, with almost 21% coming from excessive gamblers, the total number of players amou..

Supreme Court of Spain sides with Jdigital on Decree annulments

SBC NewsApril 10, 20240272 views

The Supreme Court of Spain has ‘partially annulled’ certain articles of the Royal Decree on Advertising, the mandate which imposed federal restrictions on gambling advertising across Spanish media.

The Royal Decree was the headline measure of former Minister of Consumer Affairs, Alberto Garzon, who in 2020 was appointed by Spain’s PSOE-coalition government to oversee the federal reform of Spanish gambling laws.

Drafted in November 2020, the Decree’s restrictions limited advertising for betting houses and games of chance to the early morning hours of 1-to-5 am across all media platforms.

Furthermore, from 2022 onwards, the Decree imposed a blanket ban on all forms of gambling sponsorships in professional sports (excluding state lotteries), with substantial fines for non-compliance.

The Ministry of Consumer Affairs was challenged by the trade bodies of Jdigital, Spain’s online gambling trade association, and the Information Media Association (AMI), who questioned the federal applicat..

Italy settles on €7m licences for online gambling concessions

SBC NewsApril 9, 20240237 views

The government of Italy has settled on the new framework of licences for online gambling concessions.

A new structure for Italian online gambling concessions was published yesterday by Parliament’s Gazette as an amendment carried forward by the government’s ongoing ‘Reorganisation of Gambling‘ decree.

Recognised as a principal objective of the planned overhaul of Italian gambling laws, the government seeks to settle long-standing legal disputes between the ADM, Italy’s Customs and Monopolies Agency, and licensed operators on the conflicted terms of the renewal of licences.

A government intervention had suspended the ADM from terminating licences that were set to expire in 2023 and 2024.

Reaching a settlement, new online gambling concessions will be authorised by the end of 2024, with licences set to a nine-year limit and priced at €7m. The settlement sees Italian online gambling operators pay a premium of 35 times the previous price for online gambling licences, set at €200,000 sin..

GambleAware launches tender for critical NGSN evaluation

SBC NewsApril 9, 20240241 views

GambleAware has initiated an invitation to tender for a partner to undertake the “Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the National Gambling Support Network (NGSN).”

The tender is deemed a significant project by GambleAware, which will commission a learning and evaluation partner to carry out an evaluation that delivers independent, actionable, and robust insights into the effectiveness of the National Gambling Support Network (NGSN).

Formerly known as the National Gambling Treatment Service (NGTS), the NGSN was redesigned in 2022 to apply a regional approach for participating organizations to provide early and effective interventions on gambling harms and addiction.

NGSN is supported by eleven organizations offering treatment support and intervention services across the UK, including GamCare, Gordon Moody, BetKnowMore, and the RCA Trust.

The redesign of the NGSN was sanctioned following feedback to GambleAware that only a small group of people were accessing treatment services in Gr..

KSA extends Loket Kansspel concession ahead of regulatory revisions

SBC NewsApril 9, 20240236 views

The Dutch Gaming Authority, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has extended the concession of Human Assistance Network for Daily Support (HANDS) to run the country’s Loket Kansspel gambling helpline.

Having already been the engine behind the problem gambling support service for a number of years now, HANDS will continue to offer players and those close to them assistance and guidance on gambling harm prevention.

Counsellors on the other side of the line are specially trained by HANDS to provide such help, and are available 24 hours a day throughout the week.

This gives KSA “sufficient reason to extend the current contract and continue to invest together in even better information provision on the website, even more effective interventions and even more visibility and brand awareness among the target group”.

According to KSA, more than 6,600 cases were registered in 2023 of players, friends and family members reaching out to Loket Kansspel either via phone or chat messaging to look for help ..

UKGC prioritises data and evidence in new 2024-to-2027 strategy

SBC NewsApril 8, 20240239 views

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has vowed to provide stakeholders with better evidence to ensure better outcomes for consumers and the public engaging with gambling.

The need for better evidence and enhanced data collection was outlined by the Commission’s launch of its new corporate strategy for 2024-27 tailored to adopt the recommendations set out in the government’s White Paper High Stakes – Gambling reform for the digital age.

The Commission maintains its statutory objectives governing UK gambling, in which principal duties include preventing gambling from becoming a source of crime or disorder, guaranteeing that gambling activities are conducted fairly and transparently, and to safeguard children and vulnerable individuals from harm or exploitation through gambling.

However, the Commission notes that a new three-year strategy carries the further duties of governing gambling ‘in the public interest’, encompassing the disciplines of “protecting consumers and the wider public, ..