Licensing Archives

August 31, 2022

Altenar obtains Ontario supplier licence

Software provider Altenar is to make its North American debut after obtaining a licence to operate in the Canadian province of Ontario.

Altenar, which is already licensed in 14 markets, including the UK and Malta, has been granted a gaming related supplier licence for its sportsbook technology by the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO).

The business said its Canadian offering will include the Canadian Football League (CFL) as well as major US sports and esports.

To view the full article, visit iGB North America.

August 22, 2022

Dazn Bet goes live with UK “soft launch”

Dazn Bet – a new betting venture from streaming giant DAZN – has launched its beta product in the UK, the first market in which it is live.

The streaming business announced the launch of a new betting brand in April, which would be powered by technology from Pragmatic Play and named Dazn Bet.

Later that month, Dazn announced that Mark Kemp, who at the time was chief executive of BoyleSports, would lead the new betting brand.

The operator will do business under a Great Britain Gambling Commission licence held by One Click Limited. One Click had operated a number of B2C brands in Great Britain such as Casinoland and Royal Slots, before withdrawing from the market earlier this year.

Kemp said the the ultimate goal of Dazn Bet was to create a product that fully integrates betting into streaming. The business said it hoped to also integrate news updates, non-fungible tokens, tickets, and merchandise – as well as betting – into its streaming product in the near future.

“The initial laun..

August 17, 2022

Entain to pay record £17m for wide-ranging failings in GB

The GB Gambling Commission has ordered Entain to pay a record £17.0m (€20.3m/$20.6m) after it identified a series of social responsibility and anti-money laundering (AML) failings across its online and land-based businesses.

Entain will pay £14.0m for failings from LC International Limited (LCI), which runs Entain’s online brands including Ladbrokes.com, Coral.co.uk and Foxybingo.com.

The remaining £3.0m is for the Ladbrokes Betting & Gaming Limited (LBG) land-based business, which operates 2,746 betting shops across Great Britain.

All £17m will be directed towards socially responsible purposes as part of a regulatory settlement, while the Commission will impose a series of additional licence conditions, with an Entain board member tasked with overseeing a new business plan for improvement.

In addition, a third-party audit of compliance with the Licence Conditions and Codes of Practice will take place within 12 months.

As a result of the failings, Gambling Commission chief execut..

July 18, 2022

High school Spire Institute among Ohio betting licence applicants

A number of new organisations have applied for Ohio sports betting licences, including Bet365 and Tipico as online providers, and high school Spire Institute – alongside a number of professional sports teams – for a proprietor licence.

Spire Institute is an Ohio sports-focused high school, with its athletic programs attracting top recruits including basketball star LaMelo Ball. The organisation also offers a general sporting development programs and operates sporting complexes on its grounds, outside of its presence as a high school.

Under Ohio’s sports betting laws, sporting organisations or land-based gaming venues may offer betting in the state, partnering with online operators for an online product.

It has partnered with Out the Gate, a startup sports betting operator that says it uses an in-house trading solution and plans to accept “all action” with lined that “lead the market on US sports”. Out the Gate is led by Christopher Kape and Robbie Manis, formerly of data provider Do..

July 12, 2022

NFL’s Bengals apply for Ohio betting licence

NFL franchise the Cincinnati Bengals has applied for a sports betting licence in the state of Ohio, as have FanDuel and Fanatics.

The team becomes the fifth business – but the first professional sports team – to apply for an Ohio operator licence. It is the fourth to apply for approval as a type-A sports gaming proprietor – which would allow it to offer an online product – following Jack Cleveland Casino, Thistledown Racino and Hall of Fame Village.

Those other three business all also applied for a type-B licence, which would also allow for operation of a retail betting facility.

Elys Technology, meanwhile, has applied for a type-C licence, allowing for operation of sports betting at a licensed bar.

Read the full story on iGB North America

July 11, 2022

Dutch minister defends Curaçao reform timeline

Dutch Minister for Legal Protection Franc Weerwind has defended the timeline towards reform of Curaçao’s gambling system, noting the progress the island is making towards implementing the reforms demanded by the Dutch government.

Although the island’s Council of Ministers recently approved new gambling legislation that would drastically overhaul gambling from Curaçao – by replacing the master licence system with a new licensing authority – Weerwind still faced questions on illegal gambling from Curaçao.

The new rules are expected to raise the bar to entry, potentially forcing some operators out of the market, though Finance Minister Javier Silvania said that operators who cannot meet the new standards would not be a great loss.

The questions came just over six months after his predecessor Sander Dekker faced similar questions about the steps the Netherlands was taking to deal with the sector.

In response, Weerwind said that the Dutch government was already working to pressure Curaç..

July 11, 2022

Curaçao minister: Risk of market exits will not stop us raising standards

Curaçao Finance Minister Javier Silvania has “no issue” with the island’s planned gambling overhaul resulting in operators pulling out of the jurisdiction, saying those who fail to meet its new standards will not be missed.

Speaking to iGB, Silvania explained the rationale and context behind Curaçao’s plans to drastically reform its gambling laws.

Among the changes will be the introduction of the Curaçao Gambling Authority (CGA), a body that will oversee licensing and enforcement.

The CGA will replace the current system, whereby four private entities hold master licences from the government, and offer sub-licences to operators with little to no government oversight.

Silvania noted that under the current system there had been a number of “shortcomings and challenges” and that the master licence system was “not an ideal situation”.

“The new bill ensures the monitoring is under the control of the government,” he explained to iGB. “It is important for the government to know who has l..

June 30, 2022

US representatives call on DoJ to shut down Bovada, MyBookie and BetOnline

A total of 28 US representatives have signed a letter to Attorney General Merrick Garland and the Department of Justice, calling for a crackdown on offshore operators, particularly Bovada, MyBookie and BetOnline.

The effort was led by Dina Titus and Guy Reschenthaler, co-chairs of the Congressional Gaming Caucus, and was signed by 26 other representatives.

The letter described offshore sportsbooks as “predatory operations” that “expose our constituents to financial and cyber vulnerabilities; do not have protocols to address money laundering, sports integrity, or age restrictions; and undermine states’ efforts to capture much needed tax revenue through legal sports betting channels”.

The letter called out three well-known offshore operators by name, saying that sites including Bovada, MyBookie and BetOnline “have developed sophisticated platforms that are nearly indistinguishable from those of legal providers”.

These sites – it also noted – are “frequently cited in reputable sports ..

June 28, 2022

Towards intolerance of illegal operators

Illegal online gambling remains a threat to both player protection and government tax yields. Yet, as Paul Girvan explains, most regulated jurisdictions continue to tolerate operators making money outside of the regulatory environment. Could more be done to fight the unlicensed sector?

Online gambling has existed since the inception of the internet, and over time we have seen increasing concern arise from the issue of black market gambling.

Equally, nearly all countries implementing legal market controls have encountered rising rates of gambling harm and negative social consequences, the causes for many of which remain outside the licensed market.

While there is much talk about the “licensed level playing field”, it’s hard to see how any marketplace is effectively levelled to the benefit of any parties if it tolerates the presence of the illicit black market. These shadow operators reap a competitive advantage as their regulated competitors pay a licence fee and taxes and comply wi..

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Tag: Licensing