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Latest Gambling News: Irish Regulator Expects Licensing To Commence Later This Year, and more
Catch up on six of the stories our gambling compliance analysts have covered lately, and stay up-to-date on the latest news.
Irish Regulator Expects Licensing To Commence Later This Year
Ireland is still waiting on the appointment of its seven-person Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI), which will likely happen in a matter of weeks, after its search was put on hold due to elections, according to the GRAI.
Once the authority is in place and the GRAI is established, the Gambling Regulation Act, which became law on October 23, 2024, will be commenced on a phased basis, a spokesperson for the GRAI told 蹤獲鱉鱉 GamblingCompliance.
Following a general election in December 2024, a new Irish government entered into office on January 23. Jim O'Callaghan was named the new minister for justice, allowing the appointments to resume.
Licensing will also be commenced in tranches with the commencement for certain licence types taking place in 2025 once the process is approved by the authority, according to the regulator.
Licensing is obviously a key priority and the obligations in the Act pertain to licensees, hence the prioritisation of licensing as soon as possible. That being said a number of factors have to be taken into account including the expiry of existing licenses and the transitional arrangements, the GRAI said.
The GRAIs licensing team is still looking for operators to register their interest in a , to estimate the number of potential applications for each licence type and gather information for a potential mailing list.
Estonia To Finalise Gambling Law Amendments Before End Of 2025
Estonia is expecting to finalise new gambling law amendments before the end of 2025, according to the Ministry of Finance.
A indicating the legislative intent and the topics that will be discussed with interest groups was submitted by the Ministry of Finance on January 27.
After that, we will start to write the law amendment which is expected to be finished by the end of 2025, Kersti Rahlin, a lawyer in the financial information policy department in the ministry and the person responsible for the intention, told 蹤獲鱉鱉 GamblingCompliance.
In this legislative intent there are a large number of topics that need to be changed, f.e the limit of the lottery prize pool, the definition of online gambling, requirements for the gambling operator, age limit of the player, the player's protection rules, the efficiency of penalty rates ect, Rahlin said.
North Dakota Looks To Eliminate Gaming Commission
A bill that would eliminate the North Dakota Gaming Commission has been approved by the Senate, sending the measure to the state's Assembly for their consideration.
would eliminate the gaming commission and place all authority to regulate gaming with the state attorney generals office. The Senate voted 25-21, with one senator absent not voting on Wednesday (January 29) to approve the bill that was opposed by the gaming industry.
The gaming commission is imperative for many reasons, said Scott Meske, a government relations strategist who represents the North Dakota Gaming Alliance.
Overall approval of any changes to administrative rules are voted on by the gaming commission and then sent to the legislative administrative rules committee for final approval, Meske said. By removing the gaming commission from the equation, this puts the attorney general as the sole source of any regulation within the industry.
Republican state Senator Larry Luick, who co-sponsored SB 2224, reminded his colleagues that Governor Kelly Armstrong was looking at ways to downsize government.
This is a very low hanging fruit, Luick said.
Second NBA Player Linked To Sports-Betting Probe
A ten-year NBA veteran is under investigation for a potential role in a sports-betting ring, according to a report.
The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported Thursday (January 30) that Terry Rozier, a guard for the Miami Heat, is part of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of New York regarding unusual betting patterns on a March 2023 game when Rozier was a member of the Charlotte Hornets.
In the game, Rozier left the game with a reported foot injury in the first quarter, and did not return to the game, nor did he play in the Hornets final eight games of the 2023-24 season.
The investigation is part of the same probe that resulted in the lifetime ban and subsequent prosecution of another NBA player, Jontay Porter, last year.
An NBA spokesman told the WSJ that the NBA had investigated the matter after being alerted to the unusual activity and found no rules were broken.
"The league conducted an investigation and did not find a violation of NBA rule, the spokesman said. We are now aware of an investigation by the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York related to this matter and have been cooperating with that investigation."
Thai Government Dissent Emerges On Casino Floorspace
Cracks are beginning to appear in Thai government messaging on integrated resort legalisation, with the finance ministry pushing for the doubling of a resort's maximum casino floor area to 10 percent.
The ministry has requested that the Council of State (CoS), a leading legislative advisory body that is examining a , raise the gaming area percentage in the bill from 5 percent of property floor space.
Deputy finance minister Julapun Amornvivat on Monday (January 27) said the ministry supported a more operator-friendly proportion of gambling areas, but there is no indication the CoS will accept the request, the Bangkok Post reported.
The CoS acknowledged on Tuesday that government agencies with a stake in the bill had met with its officers on four occasions over recent weeks, but that no decision has been reached.
Meanwhile, a potentially serious obstacle for the would-be land-based casino segment is looming after an anti-gambling civic organisation launched a petition for a referendum on casino legalisation.
Recent opinion polling suggests a comfortable majority of the Thai public is opposed to casino legalisation.
Turkey Determined To Tackle Illegal Gambling, Blocking 233,000 Sites In 2024
Turkeys Treasury and finance minister has warned of the consumer dangers and tax revenue losses caused by illegal gambling, after blocking access to 233,000 illegal gambling sites in 2024.
The General Directorate of the National Lottery Administration (NPI), which is affiliated with the ministry, reported the sites to the Information Technologies and Communication Authority.
Mehmet imek, the minister of Treasury and finance, said the government is determined to prevent unregistered economic activities and financial crimes that cause tax loss and victimisation of our citizens.
We are taking all kinds of measures to prevent illegal betting, virtual gambling and unauthorised draws, and we will continue to do so, imek told local media sources last week.
In 2023, 168,000 sites were also blocked for offering illegal gambling.
Around 56 percent of the illegal sites in 2024 were broadcasting from the US, 17 percent were from Armenia and 6 percent were of Dutch origin.
Additionally, criminal complaints were filed with the Ankara Chief Public Prosecutor's Office last year for 375,367 websites and 6,731 unique domain names for illegal gambling.
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