Compliance Updates
Ireland Embraces GRAI: Transforming the Landscape of Online Betting
The Minister for Justice, Mr Jim O’Callaghan T.D. has signed the order to commence parts of the Gambling Regulation Act 2024 to enable the Authority to become operational and the order to establish Údarás Rialála Cearrbhachais na hÉireann, the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland, on a statutory basis.
Minister O’Callaghan has also approved the appointment of the seven members of this new, independent Authority, who will be appointed and commence their roles with effect from tomorrow, 5 March, 2025. They will be the members of the Authority which is responsible for regulating and licencing all gambling providers in the State and which has wide ranging powers to regulate both in-person and online gambling, gaming and most lotteries.
Mr. Paul Quinn has been appointed as chair of the Authority and the other newly appointed members are as follows:
• Ms. Celine Craig
• Ms. Marion Kelly
• Ms. Rita Purcell
• Mr. David Hickson
• Mr. Michael McGrath
• Dr. Colin O’Driscoll
Minister O’Callaghan said:“Today marks a new era for the regulation of gambling in the Irish State.
“The establishment of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland is a further step towards replacing Ireland’s outdated gambling laws with a streamlined and simplified licensing framework, which will reflect the nature of modern gambling and take into account the harms associated with problem gambling, providing safeguards to protect people from those harms, especially children.
“It is designed to meet the challenges of gambling responsibly in 21st century Ireland, providing clarity for operators and for consumers and taking a responsible approach to balancing the freedom to gamble with the safeguards to protect people from falling prey to addiction.
“I want to take this opportunity to acknowledge the hard work of my predecessor, Minister Helen McEntee and Minister James Browne, in the development of this legislation.”
Minister O’Callaghan added: “I warmly congratulate Mr. Paul Quinn on his appointment as Chair of the new Authority and each of the newly appointed Authority members and wish them well in their new roles.
“The newly appointed members will now join CEO Anne-Marie Caulfield and her staff in commencing the Authority’s operations and legislative powers, on a phased basis. I understand that this includes, as a priority, work on progressing the licensing process, with a view to inviting applications for some licence types within the coming year.”
In accordance with the provisions of section 17 of the 2024 Act, appointments to the Authority will be for an initial period of three or four years. All members of the Authority may be reappointed for a second four-year term.
Speaking this morning, Minister Browne stated: “Minister O’Callaghan’s actions today mark the culmination of much hard work and dedication by Minister McEntee, Ms. Caulfield, Minister O’Callaghan and myself, supported by a core team of Authority staff and Departmental officials.
“I am pleased and encouraged at this Government’s commitment to continuing the phased commencement of the Authority’s operations and legislative powers as a priority.”
Minister for Health, Jennifer Carroll MacNeill, T.D., commented: “I welcome today’s development as an important step towards ensuring that the harms associated with gambling are minimised. I look forward to the Department of Health working with the Gambling Regulatory Authority on initiatives to promote and progress this important goal.”
Welcoming the establishment of the Authority and the appointment of its members, the CEO of the GRAI Anne-Marie Caulfield said: ‘I greatly welcome the appointment of the seven-member Authority and the establishment of Údarás Rialála Cearrbhachais na hÉireann. I would like to thank the Ministers, Oireachtas members, the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel and Department of Justice officials for their work in bringing about our establishment.
“I look forward to fulfilling our mandate and delivering a safe, well-regulated and transparent sector, with consumer protection at its core.”
The post Ireland Embraces GRAI: Transforming the Landscape of Online Betting appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
YouTube has announced a crackdown on gambling-related content, tightening its policies to limit exposure to unapproved betting services. Under the new rules, which won’t go into effect until later this month, creators will be prohibited from verbally mentioning gambling platforms that aren’t approved by Google and displaying their logos or linking to their sites in videos.
It certainly appears that YouTube intends to be stricter with its new guidelines, which will take effect on March 19.
While YouTube’s announcement didn’t single out specific gambling platforms like Stake in the announcement, this policy only furthers Google’s crackdown approach to better online promotions. If you find yourself on the platform’s support page and venture into the help center, Google notes that it only allows links to gambling ads that “meet local legal requirements.” And if you want to link to or promote an online gambling site, the domain has to be certified by Google Ads or reviewed by YouTube.
Another part of YouTube’s announcement is that the platform will introduce stricter age restrictions on gambling-related videos. So, viewers under 18 or those not signed into YouTube will not be able to access the videos.
The post YouTube Plans Crackdown on Gambling-related Content appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
The Netherlands’ gambling authority, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has addressed an online gambling provider on the use of gaming software with an option for autoplay. Offering autoplay is not permitted in the Netherlands.
With autoplay, a player can automatically continue playing after each bet without having to do anything. Because this option can lead to addiction, the use of autoplay is prohibited in the Netherlands. The KSA received a signal that a player at an online roulette table could automatically continue playing with the previous bet after winning; it was not removed from the table. After investigating the signal, the KSA concluded that this was indeed autoplay. The provider was then given a formal notice to immediately stop the violation and keep it stopped. The game must also be re-inspected before it can be put back into use, in order to exclude autoplay.
Because gambling providers use software supplied by third parties, there is a chance that other providers use the same software. The KSA has therefore sent a letter to all providers to draw attention to the ban on autoplay. The KSA emphasises that it is the provider’s responsibility to check software supplied by third parties for possible prohibited offers or game functions.
The post Dutch Gambling Authority Cracks Down on Online Gambling Autoplay Feature appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Hungarian Minister of National Economy Márton Nagy appointed Zoltán Guller, Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hungarian Tourism Agency, as of March 5, 2025, as the Chairman and CEO of Szerencsejáték Zrt., which will be under the ownership of the Ministry of National Economy from February 26, 2025.
The outgoing Chairman and CEO Andrea Mager will become a member of the Monetary Council of the Hungarian National Bank.
Zoltán Guller has been the CEO and then Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hungarian Tourism Agency since 2016. He will hold the management position of Szerencsejáték Zrt. while retaining his current positions.
Márton Nagy also expressed his gratitude to Andrea Mager for her conscientious work in recent years and wished her much success in her future professional challenges.
Andrea Mager has been at the helm of Szerencsejáték Zrt. since June 15, 2022, and during the period the company has strengthened its market position and achieved revenue peaks.
The post Dr. Zoltán Guller Becomes the New Chairman and CEO of Szerencsejáték Zrt. appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
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