Regulation round-up 20 June 2017

The biggest regulatory news from the egaming industry in the last seven days (14 June to 20 June 2017)

Kenya settles on 35% tax rate

Kenyan MPs have approved a 35% tax on all online gambling verticals after passing the country’s recent finance bill.

Kenyan National Treasury Cabinet minister Henry Rotich had originally called for a 50% tax rate to help protect minors from the country’s spiralling gambling participation rates, but MPs lowered that to the 7.5% when passing the bill.

However Kenyan president Uhuru Kenyatta vetoed that version earlier this week, suggesting a compromise 35% rate, which MPs have since approved.

European Court rules against GBGA in PoC case

The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled Gibraltar and the UK to be a single member state for trading purposes, a judgment which effectively ends the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association’s (GBGA) long-running attempt to overturn the UK Point of Consumption tax.

The GBGA has long argued its operators should be exempt from the 15% tax on operators active in the UK, claiming the tax breached European law, because it violated Article 56 of the treaty on the functioning of the EU, which preserves the right to trade freely across borders.

Seven days in regulation:

Netherlands regulated market unlikely to go live before H2 2018, says lawmaker

The Netherland’s regulated online gambling market is unlikely to go live before the second half of 2018, according to a key Dutch lawmaker.

Speaking at last week’s Gaming in Holland Conference, Dennis van Breeman, programme manager for gambling policy modernisation at the Ministry of Security and Justice, said the country’s Remote Gaming Bill was making “slow progress” thanks to a “complex political situation”

Tabcorp-Tatts merger gets green light

Tabcorp and Tatts have been given the green light by the Australian Competition Tribunal (ACT) to go ahead with their £6.5bn merger.

ACT president John Middleton dismissed concerns raised by the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission (ACCC) and said he was satisfied the proposed merger would result in substantial public benefits.

A full report detailing his reasons for the decision will be published later this week.

Swedish industry trade bodies revisit merger talks

The Swedish National Gaming Industry Organisation (SPER) has expressed fresh interest in joining forces with the Association of Online Gambling Operators (BOS) after initial plans to merge collapsed in December.

Speaking to EGR Intel a month into her role as CEO of SPER, Jenny Nilzon said her goal was to work with BOS to develop a uniform set of guidelines as they moved towards re-regulation.

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Regulation round-up 20 June 2017

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