SBC News

The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) has welcomed the European Council’s decision to make Frankfurt the base of operations for the upcoming European Anti-Money Laundering Authority (AMLA).

AMLA is expected to open doors for the first time in mid-2025, with around 400 staff members contributing to its day-to-day operations, which will include direct and indirect supervision of regulated EU entities, including the Union’s largest financial institutions.

The authority’s foundation is a key development in the ongoing EU AML framework reforms – concluding with the current EU mandate in June 2024.

AMLA will be given ultimate power to further harmonise AML regulations and their application across member states, such as creating a standardised reporting template for Suspicious Transaction Reports (STRs) – something that will affect the gambling sector as well.

EGBA is already ahead of the curve, having produced and published a package of industry-centric online gambling g..

A public consultation has been opened on the Dutch Ministry of Justice and Security’s draft proposal for online player deposit limits.

Translated from Dutch by SBC News, the draft rules propose a maximum monthly deposit limit of €150 for all players aged between 18 and 23, and €350 for everyone aged over 24 – with the option to increase those limits only after an agreement has been reached by a player and a trained member from an operator’s staff.

The goal being to reduce online gambling harm, the Ministry estimates that around 15% to 35% of new players will try to increase their base limit.

Another proposed safety net to break up potential harmful behaviour includes the addition of pop-up messages during each game session. These messages will contain information on the player’s time spent within the game, as well as a reminder of their deposit limit – circulated every 30 minutes. An additional notification will be sent out when the player reaches 50% of the set limit.

Licensed ..

The UK government has confirmed that staking limits will be applied to online slot games from September as a guaranteed player protection measure following the Gambling Review, under its White Paper consultation.

The decision was announced by Stuart Andrew MP, Under-Secretary of State at the Department for Culture, Media & Sport (DCMS), a judgment deemed as a “landmark moment for UK gambling.”

Remote-licensed operators will have a 6-month period to implement a maximum £2 stake limit on online slot games for customers aged 18-to-24.

A further £5 stake limit will be applied to adults aged over 25, as the government introduces protections for online slot games matching customer restrictions applied in land-based gambling venues.

The measure is implemented in response to evidence submitted to the White Paper consultation on player protections, in which the government endorsed tougher measures to protect young adults aged 18-24 from gambling harms.

Stuart Andrew: DCMS
DCMS noted: “Thi..

The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has announced that it will proceed with the next steps to implement affordability checks on remote gambling operators.

The decision was announced this afternoon by Tim Miller, Executive Director of Policy Development for the Gambling Commission. Affordability checks were deemed a key protection needed to “identify and take action for customers who may be financially vulnerable”.

“We have been working closely with the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) to ensure that the next steps closely reflect the intention of the White Paper. That is, that the process of conducting these checks will be frictionless for the vast majority of customers who undergo them.”

As outlined in September 2023, the Commission proposed that ‘light checks’ be applied on customer net losses of £125 (without bonus funds) within a rolling 30-day period or £500 within a rolling 365-day period.

A higher level of inspection will be carried out on gambling accou..

Cyprus has announced that it is launching the National Self-Exclusion Platform (NSEP) as part of the country’s Safer Gambling Strategy 2022-2025.
Spearheaded by the National Betting Authority (NBA), the scheme will deliver added protection for customers of the rapidly growing Cypriot gambling market.

The main safeguard is allowing players to opt in for self-exclusion so that they can control their betting activity with all online operators that are currently under licence by the Republic of Cyprus.

When the self-exclusion is active, customers are only allowed to access their accounts to withdraw any deposits left, and are prevented from creating a new account with the same or another operator.

The NSEP is primarily targeted at players who have concluded that they cannot control their gambling behaviour anymore and that it is negatively interfering with their personal life.

Ioanna Fiakkou, President of the Cyprus NBA, commented: “This is a robust tool for every player, designed..

Three new members have been appointed to the Horse Welfare Board (HWB) to continue British horseracing’s commitment to the highest standards of animal welfare, safety, and aftercare.

The HWB serves as the independent body on equine care and welfare standards reporting to the British Horseracing Authority (BHA). The board continues to prioritise the principal objectives of its “A Life Well Lived” strategy established in 2020 to implement an overarching welfare regime for the care of horses bred for British racing.

Since launching the five-year project, the Welfare Board has established ‘21 of 26 identified projects’, covering improvement of duties and practices on the traceability of horses bred, quality of life, prevention of harms, and aftercare responsibilities.

Continuing its initiatives, the Welfare Board welcomes Sulekha Varma, who currently serves as the Head Clerk of Aintree Racecourse, as a new board member. An expert in racing, Varma is at the helm of British racing’s bigge..

The rollout of Entain’s player protection journey over the past eight years has been a ‘bumpy journey’, according to the firm’s Director of Player Protection Systems and Analytics, Jez White, but the improvements have been ‘massive’.

White made his observations whilst speaking at Navigating The Maze, a panel session during ICE London 2024 within the expo’s Consumer Protection Zone which delved into the journey from problem gambling detection to effective intervention, while also studying Entain’s development in the sector.

Meanwhile, Dan Spencer, Director of Safer Gambling at EPIC Global Solutions, shared how his personal experiences of gambling addiction have helped detect others in a similar position, specifically highlighting the importance of meaningful human interactions.

Finally, Rasmus Kjaergaard, host of the panel session and CEO of Mindway AI – a scientific-based protections solutions provider based on AI in combination with human psychology assessments – highlighted the i..