Compliance Updates

ANJ, the new French gambling regulator is launched

Published

5 years ago

June 22, 2020

Reading Time: 3 minutes

On Monday 22 June, the members of the ANJ met for the first time around the President, Isabelle Falque-Pierrotin. This first meeting of the ANJ Boardmarks the launch of the new regulator, which is now competent in all segments of the gambling market.

An extended regulatory scope

In 2019, France has amended its legal framework of gambling and its regulation. A new gambling regulatory authority (ANJ) has been set. It follows ARJEL with a significantly extended regulatory scope and enhanced powers.

European Gaming Congress 2024 (Warsaw, Poland)

The ANJ is now responsible for all components of the legal gambling market, both online and offline:

online games that ARJEL regulated, such as sports betting and horse racing betting and poker offered by the 14 licensed operators ;
all the games of La Française des Jeux or the PMU sold in physical points of sale or online;
228 racecourses;
202 casinos, with the exception of anti-money laundering issues and the integrity of the games offered, which remain under the responsibility of the Ministry of Home Affairs.

While ARJEL regulated 11% of the French gambling legal market, the ANJ now regulates 78%, which represents a market of more than 50 billion euros in bets

The foundations for a consolidated regulation are therefore laid to have an overall gambling policy in France under the control of the ANJ. It will be able to implement a complete “toolbox” including preventive, prescriptive and control activities, as well as sanction measures throughout the entire gambling industry.

The ANJ missions are structured around four objectives:

Prevent excessive or pathological gambling and protect minors;
Ensure the integrity, reliability and transparency of gaming;
Prevent fraudulent and criminal activities, as well as money laundering and financing of terrorism;
Ensure the balanced, fair development of various types of games, in order to avoid any economic destabilisation of the sectors concerned.

Enhanced powers

The ANJ has enhanced powers to fulfil its missions, such as the ability to require the withdrawal of a commercial communication involving an inducement to excessive gambling or the ability to carry out on-site controls.Regarding operators under exclusive rights, it authorizes their games offer and it annually approves their games program, their promotional strategy as well as their action plans in the fight against fraud and money laundering on the one hand, prevention of gambling addiction and the protection of minors on the other hand. The ANJ will exercise greater control over these operators in these different fields.

The methods of regulation

The ANJ will set up a regulation that combines support and control.

In the short term, the ANJ will use pedagogy to explain to economic actors the new rather complex legal framework. It has already planned to bring them together shortly to present their new obligations.
It is currently finalising two reference frameworks, one on the prevention of gambling addiction and the protection of minors and the other on the fight against fraud, money laundering and the financing of terrorism. These new compliance tools will be submitted for consultation with the stakeholders concerned in order to develop standards that are as close as possible to the sectoral realities and to secure their practices.
It will also ensure compliance with the obligations of the law, which implies a credible and appropriate control strategy, and even sanctions for the most serious breaches. In this respect, it will sign an agreement with the Race and Gaming Central Service of the Ministry of Home Affairs for on-site inspections in points of sale and casinos.

Protecting players: a priority for the ANJ

In France, one person out of two is a gambler. Problem gamblers are estimated around 1,2 million. So, preventing excessive or pathological gambling is a public health issue to which the ANJ attaches the utmost importance.

The ANJ will place the players at the heart of the regulation. For that to be real and effective, the ANJ will be as close as possible to the gambling experience and the uses of the players, by articulating its action around the three fronts: information, service and capitalization on the collective intelligence of the players.

The transfer of the management of the file of banned players from the Ministry of Home Affairs to the ANJ starting from September will be an opportunity to make players more responsible. Indeed, the ANJ will propose a new registration process and a real tool for self-protection and control of the game, faster and less guilt-ridden. Concretely, a motivational interview with the ANJ staff will be carried out with the players in order to direct them, if necessary, to health-care professionals.

For Isabelle FALQUE-PIERROTIN, Chairwoman of the ANJ: “The ANJ is not an enlarged ARJEL, it is a new project that requires rethinking regulation. It has to adapt its intervention to monopolies (FDJ and PMU) and to players gambling mostly anonymously in points of sale. I would like to set up a regulation that combines support and control in order to better serve and protect players”.

Compliance Updates

EGT Digital with a license to operate in Belgium

Published

1 hour ago

June 18, 2025

George Miller

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Reading Time: 2 minutes

EGT Digital is already an authorized iGaming provider for Belgium. The company has recently received its license from the Belgian Gaming Commission, thanks to which its core products – the X-Nave platform, the Gaming Aggregator, and its in-house slot and dice games, are now available on the local market.

“The Belgian gaming community can enjoy our full range of premium products, which have proven to be the preferred choice in numerous jurisdictions around the world,” said Marieta Peleva, Sales Manager for Belgium, Poland, and the Czech Republic at EGT. “In addition to our established portfolio, we have also recently developed a dedicated line of dice games tailored specifically for the Belgian Class B+ market, which reflects our devotion to providing localized, compliant, and engaging gaming solutions. Whether operators are looking for a complete solution for their business or want to enrich their betting sites with attractive and diverse content, they can always count on us.”

EGT Digital’s iGaming platform, X-Nave, provides operators with everything they need to achieve success in the online gaming sector. Its 4 main modules: Sport Product, Gaming Aggregator, CRM Engine, and Payment Gateway, can function as part of the turnkey solution or as standalone modules, as they are able to integrate with third-party solutions.

With a rich portfolio of 24,000 games from over 300 popular providers and numerous player engagement features, the Gaming Aggregator enables operators to create personalized offerings that perfectly fit their customers’ tastes.

EGT Digital’s vast range of casino solutions, covering over 160 in-house developed slot titles and several top-performing jackpots, are widely preferred by different types of players because of their great thematic diversity and numerous attractive bonuses.

Tsvetomira Drumeva, Head of Sales at the company, concluded: “EGT Digital’s license for Belgium is a substantial accomplishment, which not only solidifies our position as a leading iGaming provider but also reaffirms our commitment to contributing to the development of the global gaming environment.”

The post EGT Digital with a license to operate in Belgium appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Australia

ACMA: TAB Penalised $4 Million for Spamming VIP Customers

Published

1 hour ago

June 18, 2025

Niji Narayan

acma:-tab-penalised-$4-million-for-spamming-vip-customers

Reading Time: 2 minutes

Tabcorp Holdings Limited (TAB) has been penalised $4,003,270 for sending more than 5700 marketing messages to customers of its VIP Programme that broke Australia’s spam laws.

An Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) investigation found that TAB sent 2598 SMS and WhatsApp messages to VIP customers between 1 February and 1 May 2024 without providing an option to unsubscribe from the messages.

The ACMA also found that 3148 SMS and WhatsApp messages did not contain adequate sender information across the same period, and 11 SMS messages were sent without consent between 15 February and 29 April 2024.

Authority Member Samantha Yorke said the breaches were deeply concerning as they involved non-compliance by a large and established gambling provider that targeted VIP Programme customers.

“This is the first time the ACMA has investigated and found spam breaches in a gambling VIP program. These programs often involve personalised messages offering incentives such as bonus bets, deposit matching, rebates and offers of tickets to sporting and other events.

“The gambling industry needs to understand that spam laws apply to all direct marketing—whether it’s generic campaigns or personalised messages,” Ms Yorke said.

“VIPs should not be confused with gambling ‘high-rollers’. These types of gambling VIP programs can involve customers who are not well off and are experiencing significant losses,” Ms Yorke said.

“It is utterly unacceptable that TAB did not have adequate spam compliance systems in place.”

Under the Spam Act 2003, businesses must have consent before sending marketing messages. Messages sent with consent must also contain a working unsubscribe option and information about the sender.

“When people make choices to unsubscribe from a service they must be able to do so easily and their decisions must be respected by companies,” Ms Yorke said.

TAB has also entered into a 3-year court-enforceable undertaking. This includes an independent review of its direct marketing systems, making improvements, running quarterly audits of its VIP direct marketing, training staff and reporting to the ACMA regularly.

“The ACMA will be watching closely to ensure TAB meets its commitments and complies with the spam laws in future,” Ms Yorke said.

Cracking down on gambling safeguards and spam rules are current compliance priorities for the ACMA. Over the last 18 months businesses have been penalised over $16.9 million for spam breaches.

The post ACMA: TAB Penalised $4 Million for Spamming VIP Customers appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.

Compliance Updates

UKGC: Six Basketball Players Face Sanctions

Published

1 hour ago

June 18, 2025

Niji Narayan

ukgc:-six-basketball-players-face-sanctions

Reading Time: < 1 minute

The UK Gambling Commission’s Sport Betting Intelligence Unit (SBIU) supported investigations into match-fixing and regulation breaches within the former British Basketball League (BBL).

The investigations were led by the International Basketball Federation (FIBA) and the British Basketball Federation (BBF) respectively.

Five former Surrey Scorchers players have received fines and sanctions ranging from 10-year bans to lifetime suspensions for manipulating match outcomes and failing to report corrupt activity during the 2022–23 season.

The FIBA led investigation, conducted in collaboration with the BFF, GB betting industry, and other partners, identified at least six compromised matches.

Two players, Quincy Taylor and Charleston Dobbs, were sanctioned by the BBF with lifetime bans and fines. FIBA extended these sanctions globally. Three additional players — Shakem Johnston, Padiet Wang, and Joshua McFolley — were also sanctioned by FIBA, with lifetime or long-term suspensions.

A further former player, Dean Wanliss, was fined and suspended for three years for betting on basketball matches between 2019-21. This investigation was led by the BFF in conjunction with FIBA, the Spanish Basketball Federation (FEB), the GB betting industry and the International Olympic Committee Monitoring Unit.

This case underscores the commitment of FIBA, the BBF, the Gambling Commission and other stakeholders to maintaining integrity in sport and enforcing a zero-tolerance policy towards betting-related corruption.

The post UKGC: Six Basketball Players Face Sanctions appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.