The Senate of Argentina has resumed negotiations to complete the federal bill designed to strengthen protections against problem gambling and introduce tighter controls on advertising and youth protections. The initiative, which secured overwhelming preliminary approval in the Chamber of Deputies last November, has since stalled in the upper house, where committees remain divided on its federal application…
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The Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI) has highlighted some of its biggest achievements under its historical first mandate.
In the pursuit of a gambling regulatory system on par with modern European standards, the Irish government introduced GRAI at the end of last year, with the regulator beginning to take charge of the market in March 2025.
Under CEO Anne Marie Caulfield’s leadership, GRAI’s main responsibilities revolve around the supervision of licensing, gambling laws, self-exclusion and player protection initiatives.
Only seven months after its official launch, the regulatory body has already achieved some significant progress in the areas outlined above.
For one, a close collaboration with the Economic and Social Research Institute (ESRI) resulted in an evidence-based conclusion that gambling inducements – even “bad” ones below market rates – can lead to increased gambling rates, especially among those at most risk.
This will likely inform regulatory developments moving forward, with the GRAI potentially moving to clamp down on promotions like bonuses in Ireland’s new-look gambling market.
Meanwhile, having a specialised gambling regulator in place has also allowed for a more focused approach towards problem gambling research.
In conjunction with Pobal – Ireland’s body responsible for EU funding allocation, GRAI conducted the country’s first nation-wide ‘Call for Input’ initiative which assessed the amount of money needed for the creation of a Social Impact Fund that would deliver a meaningful impact in tackling gambling harm.
Furthermore, banks have also become more involved with cutting down problem gambling rates with the help of the regulator and the launch of the Common Commitment of Care for Problem Gambling project.
Operator compliance with the regulatory framework will also come under scrutiny as soon as GRAI begins its licensing duties, with the regulator’s Compliance and Enforcement teams getting ready to work closely together and bridge any gaps when it comes to legal breaches.
The step-by-step licensing guide has also been already published on GRAI’s website thanks to a thorough consultation process and detailed stakeholder feedback. Licence applications will run through a newly-set online portal built with the help of Deloitte, who has also played a core role in the implementation of Ireland’s first National Gambling Exclusion Register.
Caulfield commented: “The Authority is currently finalising the Statement of Strategy 2025 – 2027, which sets out the roadmap to delivering a modern, fair, and trusted regulatory regime that reflects the constantly evolving nature of gambling and the expectations of the Irish public.
“We look forward to sharing our Statement of Strategy with our stakeholders when it is finalised in the coming weeks.”
Children’s digital safety is gradually becoming a top concern for many European countries, with Romania being the latest to consider stringent controls.
Similarly to France, where regulations to limit under-15s access to social media have been in place since July 2023, lawmakers in Romania are considering the roll out of mandatory age checks for children up to 16 years of age, potentially even outright banning social networks for that age group.
The goal is to protect minors from content that is considered sexual or violent in nature, as well as to reduce the rates of online bullying and harassment which has become almost a given among digital youth circles.
Concerns, however, have also spilled over to gambling, with online monitoring reformists also bundling up advertising restrictions into their demands.
Save the Children, an NGO leading the online minor protections debate, has been quite outspoken against what it sees as a proliferation of child gamblers in Romania.
Data presented by the organisation shows that 48.3% of children spend more than six hours a day online. A separate Save the Children data set showcased that 14% of surveyed children have gambled at least once in their lifetime, while 40% admitted to knowing a peer who has gambled.
In light of the results, Gabriela Alexandrescu, President of Save the Children Romania, said: “We must be aware of the real risks of gambling addiction and the destructive pathological behaviors it generates.
“It is imperative to completely eliminate gambling advertising, limit the spaces dedicated to these activities, and even prohibit gambling for people under 21.”
These concerns were also shared by a number of politicians, including MP Raluca Turcan, who added: “Gambling advertisements must not invade children’s space. It is vital to ban not only gaming halls, but also billboards and advertisements near schools, parks, playgrounds, campuses, hospitals or churches.”
Political pressure to clamp down on gambling has been gradually increasing since the start of the year as a result of the major hiccup that the national regulator, ONJN, went over in February, when an audit found €900m of missing taxes.
The betting regulator in Brazil, the Secretariat of Prizes and Bets of the Ministry of Finance (SPA), is taking further measures to ensure acceptance of the two most widely claimed state benefits are excluded from betting.
Late last year, Brazil’s Supreme Court opted to exclude reimbursements of the Bolsa Familia Programme (PBF) and Continuous Benefit Payment (BPC) benefits from wagering with licensed operators. This came ahead of the launch of the ‘Bets’ regulated market on 1 January 2025.
The SPA began taking steps in April 2025 to ensure the exclusion was being adopted effectively. It has now followed this up with the creation of a database of PBF and BPC users which operators are required to consult during KYC checks, user registration and logins.
Regis Dudena, Secretary of Prizes and Bets at the Ministry of Finance, said: “To ensure compliance with the Supreme Court’s ruling, it was necessary to develop a robust technical tool, carefully ensuring that the measure guaranteed the protection of the rights involved.
“Protecting citizens, their security, their rights, and their personal data are always objectives of the Brazilian Government.”
Betting, benefits and poverty reduction
Brazil’s betting market understandably generated a lot of hype, with the country hosting an adult population of just under 170 million, an estimated football fanbase of well over 100 million, and the world’s 10th largest economy by GDP.
It is also a country which faces various socio-economic challenges, however, which benefits like the Bolsa Familia were introduced to alleviate. Bolsa Familia in particular is one of the most widely claimed benefits in Brazil with over 54 million people receiving it, and has been praised as contributing significantly to the reduction of poverty rates in the country.
BPC, meanwhile, is provided to those 65 and older, and is claimed by some 5.8 million people. Collectively, the Supreme Court decision prevents around a third of Brazil’s population from betting legally.
Operators have been reminded by the SPA over the past few months that the welfare benefits exclusions must be strictly adhered to. On top of the PBF/BPC database, operators have been assigned other tasks.
Licensed betting firms are required to consult the Betting Management System (Sigap), the Ministry of Finance’s guidance around the use and submission of data by betting companies, when customers Individual Taxpayer Registry (CPF) numbers.
Alexandre Amorim, President of Federal Data Processing Service (Serpro), which designed the Sigap system, said: “This measure reinforces the State’s commitment to the ethical use of technology and to building a transparent, safe, and socially fair betting market.
“Sigap is an example of how technology can be applied strategically to meet the needs of the State and society.”
Argentina may follow suite
The notion of excluding benefits recipients from gambling appears to be catching on, certainly in Latin America at least. Brazil’s neighbour Argentina, also a key betting market in South America, is also mulling up the prospect.
The Chamber of Deputies of Salta, a province in the northwest of Argentina, has approved a bill which will prevent people who receive Universal Child Allowance (AUH) from entering betting shops, racetracks, casinos and bingo halls.
Gustavo Dantur, one of the two Representatives to table the legislation alongside fellow lawmaker Daniel Segura, explained that ‘problem gambling affects us all’, adding that ‘this is not a moral issue, and it’s an issue of economic and social harm’.
“We have a moral duty to support this law,” he remarked – a sentiment that seems to have resonated with his fellow legislators, with only two out of the Chamber’s 60 deputies voting against the proposal.
The European Gaming & Betting Association has welcomed the approval of a draft European standard on markets of harm in the European Committee for Standardisation (CEN). An overwhelming majority of national standardisation bodies voted in favour of the policy. “The positive outcome of this vote is a real testament to the power of collaboration across…
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With Brazil’s new legal framework enforced this year, the country is poised to become one of the world’s largest gaming markets. Player protection has become a top priority, leading to a wave of new guidelines, regulations, and proposals that are reshaping the industry. In this episode of iGaming Daily, host Fernando Noodt is joined by…
The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has shed more light on its latest black market report, acknowledging the challenges but remaining firm in its commitment to counteract illegal operators.
Tim Livesley, UKGC Head of Data Innovation Hub, highlighted that the UKGC’s methods for data collection have been noticeably improved thanks to a more tightly-knitted collaboration between the Commission’s data and enforcement teams.
The latest UKGC report, which examines practices by licensed operators that might be pushing consumers towards the black market, is largely relying on automation for intelligence gathering, Livesley added – with automation also now a core part from the business model of some of the biggest gambling companies in the world, as revealed during SBC Summit Lisbon.
Besides freeing up resources and increasing efficiency, the UKGC’s Head of Data Innovation added that automation has also allowed for the collection of data on a more frequent basis – not necessarily putting the Commission a step ahead of the black market but improving its efforts nevertheless.
The report itself has focused on black market activity over the last 15 months, identifying consumer migration facilitated through search engines and affiliate links. In its closing lines, the analysis concludes that there is ‘no observed evidence of a sustained black market growth’.
Lack of evidence isn’t evidence
However, Livesley also acknowledged that generating accurate estimates does pose significant challenges due to the illegal nature of the black market, which generally keeps it hidden and therefore very little can be said about it in a factual manner.
Perhaps even more daunting is the dynamic nature of the illegal market, with Livesley adding that unlicensed operators are continuously moving away from the UK only for others to take up their space.
Having these two statements in mind, the UKGC’s claim of lack of evidence for a substantial growth should be viewed with a level of scepticism, as gathering accurate data appears to be a challenging endeavor – if not completely impossible.
Vulnerability is profitable
Until a reliable solution is found to meaningfully push back against the black market, every player in the UK will remain at risk from illegal operators profiting off of vulnerability.
A report published by gambling harm charity Deal Me Out earlier this year revealed that £10m was deposited into the black market in the months prior to the publication.
Of that amount, a total of £3.6m was given away by individuals suffering from problem gambling, £1.9m from general consumers, and £5.1m was staked by content creators sponsored by unlicensed operators – further unveiling the size of the marketing machine behind the black market.
DGOJ, the Directorate General of Gambling in Spain, has revealed further plans for player protections and centralised monitoring controls to be applied to the digital environments of Spanish online gambling licences.
The update coincides with the Directorate renewing its certification under the National Security Scheme (ENS), Spain’s central information system for public services and government agencies.
The regulator needs this renewal in order to test a principal project of the 2023 Royal Decree on Gambling Environments. This project is the deployment of a ‘Centralised Monitoring System’ tracking player activity across Spanish online gambling.
Since 2022, Spanish licences have been instructed to self-manage deposit limits independently at a limit of €600 a day. The centralised system will allow DGOJ to verify each customer deposit transacted with individual licences.
According to the draft proposals, the default limits are set at €600 per day, €1,500 per week, and €3,000 per month. SBC Noticias reports that “new monitoring will require verification of each deposit to ensure the player maintains a margin within the established limits”.
The system is yet to be tested, but DGOJ is confident it will provide “individual mechanisms” for customers to reduce limits. Licensees must remind customers of their right to limit deposits and time on platforms on each log-in.
The application of universal deposit limits forms part of the DGOJ’s technical commitment to ensure Spanish gambling consumers are protected by the centralised monitoring system.
Attached to the new monitoring system will be the launch of a new Federal Self-Exclusion Scheme for problem gamblers. This new protection is designed for problem gambling interventions and to provide direct treatment support across Spain’s 17 autonomous communities.
The DGOJ maintains its ambitions to launch an AI algorithm to trace 60 live variable indicators of problem gambling risks. The algorithm is viewed as the headline project of the Royal Decree of gambling environments, to deliver as AI will track real-time patterns linked to problem gambling behaviour and enable operators to intervene early.
In an update provided to delegates of the Gaming in Spain Conference in June, the DGOJ noted that it had begun the project based on XGBoost machine learning algorithms.
However, this September, the Directorate launched a public consultation for feedback from IT, gaming and tech stakeholders on inputs, data and intelligence needed to engineer the algorithm.
The DGOJ believes that this project, which is backed by the Ministry of Consumer Affairs of Spain, will make it the first European regulator to apply AI to customer interventions around gambling harm.
The Ministry of Consumer Affairs of Spain maintains that the Royal Decree of Gambling Environments provides the mandate for Spain to have the toughest surveillance of gambling licences in Europe.
As it stands, the DGOJ has yet to deliver on any technical project sought by the Royal Decree.