SBC News

Serviço de Regulação e Inspeção de Jogos (SRIJ), The Gambling Authority of Portugal has reported that online self-exclusion registrants reached 215,000 in the fourth quarter of 2023.

The agency noted that while online gaming gross revenue improved year-over-year by over 16 per cent, land-based gaming revenue dropped by almost four per cent.

Publishing data for Q4, the SRIJ declared a 16.4 per cent increase in gross revenue when compared to the previous year, coming in at €227.4m (Q4 2022: €195.3m). Q4’s revenue was also a 5.6 per cent improvement on the previous quarter’s €215.3m.

From the 17 licensed games of chance operators and 13 licensed sportsbooks in Portugal, games of chance revenue stood at €154.5m, up 40.7 per cent YoY (Q4 2022: €109.8m), while sports betting revenue fell by 14.8 per cent to €72.8m (Q4 2022: €85.4m).

Per gaming type, slots had the biggest share of games of chance wagers placed during the quarter at 83 per cent, followed by French roulette at 6.9 per cent,..

Regulatory compliance specialist BetComply has introduced a tool that combines self-assessment with auditing services for licence holders in the Netherlands.

The ‘ComplyCheck’ solution, powered by SG Certified, offers a set of questions that can be completed by operators with the relevant evidence before submitting it to the BetComply team for review.

BetComply then analyses the information with the help of its regulatory expert team and provides feedback on any gaps that may produce compliance shortcomings, as well as insights about compliance with the ongoing changes in the Dutch regulatory framework.

The upcoming revision of the Dutch Remote Gambling Act (KOA) has sparked a policy debate around the introduction of more player protection measures – with Minister of Legal Protection Franc Weerwind and the Dutch Gambling Authority Kansspelautoriteit being at the centre of it, requesting to see variable loss limits depending on players’ age.

Mike de Graaff, Chief Compliance Offic..

Glücksspielbehörde (GGL), the Federal Gambling Authority of Germany, has initiated its legal review of loot boxes and in-game video purchases. In its evaluation, GGL stated its support for the current initiatives aimed at effectively regulating loot boxes to protect children and youth in Germany.

The specifics of loot box reward mechanisms and related activities like skin betting are under scrutiny to determine if they qualify as gambling.

Research will commence with a workshop on February 28, orchestrated by Professor Martin Maties of the University of Augsburg and esports legal expert Dr. Lennart Brüggemann.

Stakeholders were briefed that the event’s goal is to enrich the legal scrutiny of loot boxes within gambling law and elucidate all legal arguments in the ambiguous zone between gaming and gambling. Feedback from this event is expected to provide a robust base for GGL’s decision-making process, with additional expert discussions planned in collaboration with federal states.
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The Charity Commission has received a complaint made against GambleAware for providing false information to the British public on gambling-related harms and suicides.

The complaint has been submitted by The Good Law Project, an independent non-profit organisation led by public policy expert Will Prochaska, the former Strategic Director of Gambling with Lives (GWL).

In its mission statement, The Good Law Project (GLP) cites that it seeks to use law for positive change and better public outcomes, with reforming UK gambling laws among its key objectives.

Prochaska’s new non-profit claims to fight dangerous misinformation about gambling and accuses GambleAware of being supported by an industry that preys on the public. The campaign is backed by Annie Ashton, a widow bereaved of her husband Luke Ashton, a former gambling addict who took his own life in April 2021, a case in which the “coroner concluded that his death was caused by a gambling disorder”.

GPL states it is “supporting Luke’..

Franc Weerwind, Legal Protection Minister of the Netherlands, has informed the President of the House of Representatives about his intentions going forward in regards to the upcoming evaluation of the country’s Remote Gambling Act (KOA) taking place in October.
The letter to Martin Bosma is a follow up to Weerwind’s previous alert on failing player protection measures of the Remote Gambling Act (KOA) highlighted in his letter from December 21, 2023.
Past talks
In the December communiqué, Weerwind brought forward an investigation by the Dutch Gambling Authority Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) into the duty of care by providers which established that there is a “cause for concern about the protection of vulnerable players”.
The Legal Protection Minister asserted that this alone meant that the existing online gambling regime first enforced in 2021 is structured with “a high level of abstraction” that pushes player protection responsibilities into the background rather than front and centre.
Lo..

The National Assembly of Slovenia has been warned that “there are many more violations of online gambling” than previously assumed.

The warning came from the Financial Administration of the Republic of Slovenia (FURS) carrying out its annual inspection of gambling activities and licences.

The agency reported that “more and more online organisers are illegally organising games of chance in the field of gambling”.

As cited: “In order to organise games of chance in Slovenia, you must have a valid concession from the government. Violators are subject to fines in accordance with the Gambling Act of 1995.”

A subsidiary of the Ministry of Finance, FURS monitors Slovenian gambling activities, and stated that while it had observed 115 violations in 2023 by unlicensed online operators, it had submitted “34 actions against violators, who did not heed the warnings”.

Furthermore, the financial authority noted that 28 violators had continued to offer illegal services despite being issued cease ..

Banco Central do Brasil has been authorised to expand the Pix payment platform internationally to accommodate cross-border transactions for Brazilian businesses.

The decision was taken following a meeting of the Central Bank’s policy advisors on how to maximise global cross-border payment authorisations and efficiencies helping expand Brazil’s international network and resources for business.

Pix was first launched by the central bank in 2020 but its relatively short operating history has seen the instant payments platform become widely utilised in Brazil for both day-to-day consumer and business payments, more so than both debit cards and credit cards.

The system has already been taken multinational to some extent, as Brazilian tourists in the country’s neighbours Uruguay and Paraguay are able to use their Pix digital wallets to pay for services such as restaurants and hotels via a QR code.

However, the central bank is interested in taking Pix even further afield, beyond the borde..