Compliance Updates
The MGA Issues Interim Performance Report for January – June 2022
Supervisory Activities
- During this period, 16 compliance audits were conducted together with 114 desktop reviews, accompanied by an additional seven AML/CFT compliance examinations that were initiated by the MGA on behalf of the FIAU. Additionally, the Authority issues a warning, cancelled a licence, as well as suspended another authorised entity, following information which emerged from compliance audits, compliance reviews and formal investigations Furthermore, the MGA issued a total of seven administrative penalties as well as two regulatory settlements, with a collective total financial penalty of €85,000.
- Enforcement measures were also issued by the FIAU to an additional four licensees, ranging from written reprimands to administrative penalties, with an emphasis on remediation measures, based on the breaches identified during examinations carried out in previous years, including by the MGA. In total, these amounted to just over €386,567.
- Based primarily on reducing the risk of money laundering or funding terrorism, the Fit & Proper Committee determined that four individuals and entities did not meet the Authority’s fit and properness criteria, while an additional two applications were rejected by the Supervisory Council.
- A total of 626 criminal probity screening checks were undertaken on personnel, shareholders, ultimate beneficial owners, key individuals, employees, and businesses from the land-based and online gambling sectors.
- In the first half of the year, 22 interviews with prospective money laundering reporting officers (MLROs) and key persons carrying out the AML/CFT function were carried out, with the aim of determining the knowledge and suitability of each candidate.
- A total of six letters of breach were issued by the MGA’s Commercial Communications Committee (S.L. 583.09), out of which five operators were deemed to have violated the Commercial Communications Regulations.
- In its efforts to safeguard players and promote responsible gaming, the Authority assisted a total of 2,578 players who requested assistance, covering the majority of the cases received during 2022 and the spillover from 2021.
- A total of 22 cases of websites having misleading references to the Authority were investigated, while a total of 13 notices were published on the MGA’s website with the aim of preventing the public from falling victim to such scams. Furthermore, an additional 18 responsible gambling website checks were conducted, and five observation letters were issued.
National and International Cooperation
- Between January and June 2022, a total of 122 alerts on suspicious betting were sent to the industry. Following correspondence of these alerts, the Suspicious Betting Reporting Mechanism received a total of 16 new suspicious betting reports.
- Enforcement agencies, sports governing bodies, integrity units, and other regulatory authorities made a total of 23 requests for information, specifically in relation to the manipulation of sporting events or violations of sporting regulations. Subsequently, 10 of these requests resulted in the exchange of data. In addition, 278 allegations of suspicious betting from licensees and other interested parties were received.
- The Authority participated directly in 12 separate investigations into sports rules violations or manipulation of sporting competitions during the time under review. In addition, the Authority also participated indirectly in another investigation.
- The Authority sent 64 requests for international cooperation, the majority of which related to requests for background checks as part of an authorisation process. Furthermore, the Authority received a total of 36 requests for international collaboration from other regulators.
- Up to the end of June 2022, a total of 84 official replies were issued, providing feedback on the regulatory good standing of our licensed operators to the relevant authorities asking for this information.
- In total, during the first six months of the year, the MGA received just over 100 requests for information from other local regulating authorities and governing bodies.
The MGA will publish a full-year industry performance report during the second half of 2023, when it publishes its Annual Report for the financial year ending 31 December 2022.
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Australia
NSW Govt Appoints New Board Members to ILGA
The NSW Government has made appointments to the board of the Independent Liquor and Gaming Authority (ILGA), including a deputy chairperson and two new members.
Associate Professor Amelia Thorpe and Nicholas Nichles have been appointed following a rigorous public expression of interest selection process. Additionally, existing member Chris Honey has been appointed deputy chairperson.
ILGA is a statutory decision-maker responsible for a range of liquor, registered club and gaming machine regulatory functions including determining licensing and disciplinary matters.
The appointments follow the end of the term of appointment for outgoing deputy chairperson Sarah Dinning, and also fill vacancies that existed on the board.
Mr Honey, who was appointed a member of ILGA earlier in 2024, has been named deputy chairperson until the end of his current appointment term (11 February 2027).
Mr Honey has extensive experience in the advisory and restructuring field, including working extensively in highly regulated sectors.
Associate Professor Thorpe and Mr Nichles have both been appointed for four years commencing 6 November 2024.
Associate Prof Thorpe is with the Faculty of Law & Justice at the University of New South Wales and an Acting Commissioner of the NSW Land and Environment Court.
Mr Nichles was previously a Consul General and Senior Trade and Investment Commissioner for Australian Government agency Austrade, based in the US.
The new appointments bring the ILGA board membership to seven. The new appointments will join chairperson Caroline Lamb, new deputy chairperson Mr Honey and current members Cathie Armour, Jeffrey Loy APM and Dr Suzanne Craig.
The post NSW Govt Appoints New Board Members to ILGA appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Compliance Updates
Ireland’s New Gambling Regulator to Begin Work on Phased Basis Next Year
Ireland’s new gambling regulator is likely to begin overseeing betting businesses in the Republic midway through next year, industry figures predict.
President Micheal D Higgins recently signed the new Gambling Regulation Act, which overhauls licensing and creates a new authority to govern betting firms, into law. Industry figures forecast that the new regime should begin operating midway through next year, a key point for many businesses as they will have to renew online betting licences by that time.
Government also has to pass several milestones before the new Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland can start functioning, including appointing the seven people the body requires.
Minister for Justice Helen McEntee appointed senior civil servant Anne Marie Caulfield as chief executive designate of the authority in summer 2022. Her office has 11 staff. According to the Department of Justice, the State’s Public Appointments Service will shortly begin recruiting the authority’s seven members.
The Minister will appoint the candidates the service recommends.
The department could not say when the authority would start regulating but noted this would happen in a phased “timely manner” after its establishment.
Jack Chambers, Minister for Finance, earmarked €9.1 million for the authority next year in this month’s budget. That includes €4 million for technology.
Ms Caulfield wrote to industry organisations last week confirming that her organisation would begin its work on a “phased basis” but pointing out that it has already completed many preparations. In a statement she said that the authority was committed to keeping the industry fully informed so businesses can “plan for the new regulatory regime”.
Meanwhile, the Public Service Appointments Service last week advertised for someone to head the authority’s social fund. Under the new law’s provisions, betting businesses will contribute to this fund which the authority will use to tackle problem gambling.
Betting businesses regard the fund’s establishment as one of the key steps towards establishing the new regime.
Alongside that, they say that the authority will also have to set up its new licensing system. The law demands that all gambling businesses operating in the Republic be licensed and makes it a criminal offence to operate without a proper permit.
Lawyers at Arthur Cox recently noted that current permits are preserved until licensing sections of the act come into force. Existing high street and online bookies’ licences will have a run-off period, but lawyers said that how this would work in practice depended on how the regulator developed the new system.
Betting businesses are keen that the authority works on a national self-exclusion register for customers who voluntarily ask bookmakers not to take their bets. Currently, most individual bookies have systems where customers who fear they have a problem, or are at risk, can exclude themselves in this way.
The post Ireland’s New Gambling Regulator to Begin Work on Phased Basis Next Year appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Compliance Updates
Tennessee Sports Wagering Council Takes Action Against Illegal Sportsbook
The Tennessee Sports Wagering Council through its executive director issued $50,000 in fines to Bovada.lv, an unlicensed and therefore illegal sportsbook operating in Tennessee.
Bovada failed to comply with cease and desist letters delivered to addresses in Curaçao, and Council investigators placed wagers through Bovada’s platform on three separate occasions, including as recently as October 16, 2024.
The Sports Gaming Act authorizes the Council to impose a $10,000 fine for the first offense of accepting wagers without a license, which rises to $15,000 for the second offense, and $25,000 for the third offense. Subsequent offenses may lead to the imposition of a $25,000 fine for each occurrence, an occurrence being a single wager accepted in Tennessee.
In the cease and desist letters, the Council ordered Bovada to allow all Tennessee users to withdraw any funds currently held by the unlicensed sportsbook.
“The Sports Wagering Council recommends that Tennessee users of Bovada withdraw their funds immediately. Our primary role is the protection of the public interest through a safe, regulated environment, and Tennessee sports bettors need to know that just because they can access a sports betting website or app inside Tennessee’s borders does not mean it is licensed to do business here,” Mary Beth Thomas, Executive Director of Tennessee Sports Wagering Council, said.
Legal sportsbook operators provide important bettor protections not found in the illegal market. If an individual wagers with unlicensed sportsbooks, their sensitive financial and personal information may not be protected and could even be shared with criminal enterprises. The bettor’s money could be withheld or disappear without a way to recover it.
The SWC is working closely with its network of law enforcement at the state and federal level to eradicate illegal sportsbooks such as Bovada and others.
Tennessee is the largest “online-only” sports betting market in the US, with more than $4.7 billion wagered in Tennessee last fiscal year through online sportsbooks licensed by the Council.
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