Compliance Updates
Navigating Legal Frontiers: Nordic Legal’s Vision for the Finnish Gambling Market
The Prague Gaming & TECH Summit 2025 brought together top experts across the iGaming and tech landscape, and Nordic Legal stood out as the event’s Scandinavian Legal Expertise Sponsor. A renowned legal advisory firm in the Nordic region, Nordic Legal continues to shape the future of gambling legislation and compliance in Europe.
In this post-event interview, we caught up with Pekka Ilmivalta, Head of the Finnish Office at Nordic Legal, to dive deeper into the firm’s insights on the upcoming Finnish gambling reform, the legal challenges it poses, and the opportunities it presents for operators preparing to enter the market.
Finland is preparing to launch its regulated gambling sector in January 2026. As an expert with over 20 years of experience in the gambling industry, how do you view its draft legislation and the current state of the Finnish gambling market?
Finns are used to gambling online, and the size of the market is close to 2 billion euros in GGR. As the market share of the national monopoly operator, Veikkaus, has declined to around 50 percent, nearly half of the gambling spending already takes place outside the Finnish regulation. Therefore, the gambling legislation reform is really needed.
The Government Proposal now being dealt with in the Finnish Parliament is generally a comprehensive and a good package. As the political parties are quite unanimous about the need for the reform, I expect the parliamentary discussion to concentrate on the balance between responsibility measures and the features making the market interesting enough for the operators to enter the regulated market. Especially marketing, use of affiliates and bonusing will, and should, be discussed.
I believe that the Parliament will approve the new legislation early next autumn and that the B2C license application process will be able to begin already in January next year.
The Finnish legislative review council has raised concerns about potential increases in gambling harms under the new regulatory framework. What measures do you believe are necessary to mitigate these risks, and how could Finland balance market liberalization with responsible gambling practices?
Personally, I think that gambling harms must be taken seriously. However, as almost half of the Finnish gambling now happens outside the regulated market, I am convinced that succeeding in channelization is a crucial starting point to really mitigate gambling harms. Therefore, attractiveness of the market and measures against the black market are extremely important. Furthermore, self-exclusion and responsible gambling tools are, of course, needed for the players. Generally, I believe that AI assisted monitoring could and will have an important role in preventing harmful gambling in the future. To really work, responsible gambling tools need to be both pragmatic and relevant for each individual player.
Considering Finland’s upcoming gambling reform, what legal and operational challenges should gambling operators be prepared for, particularly regarding compliance and player protection? Which key trends do you see shaping the market’s future?
As it seems now that affiliates and welcome bonuses will be banned, operators will have to find other means to build their brand and acquire customers. Even though traditional marketing and sponsoring are widely acceptable, I would expect to see innovative solutions to stand out from the probable marketing avalanche during the first months after the market opening. Perhaps new kinds of sponsorships or retail activities? Or even enhanced player protection measures to gain a competitive edge?
Overall, I would advise operators to start their market entry preparations early enough. The licensing procedure could take several (6 to 9) months. Also, adjusting to the local technical and player protection requirements might not happen overnight.
What insights could help Finland create a balanced and effective gambling market?
I believe that the new legislation will provide a good enough framework for a functional gambling market. However, based on experiences from Sweden and Denmark, I would point out two practical aspects crucial to making the new legislation effective: First, there needs to be collaboration between licensed operators and the new regulator. Dialogue and a mutual will to find solutions should be the common mindset. Secondly, the regulator hopefully has enough resources (tools, persons and persistence) to interfere with the black-market operations, which will evidently still exist also after the reform.
Nordic Legal has extensive experience advising European governments on regulatory best practices. How can your firm assist operators looking to enter the Finnish market and navigate the evolving legal landscape?
With our deep knowledge of Finnish legislation, extensive experience from regulatory developments in other jurisdictions, and strong industry relationships, we are well-positioned to support operators and B2B suppliers entering the Finnish market. We can offer comprehensive guidance not only on compliance and licensing, but also on navigating strategic challenges, ensuring our clients are well-prepared for a dynamic and shifting legal landscape. Our proactive approach enables us to identify regulatory changes early and help clients stay ahead of industry developments.
The post Navigating Legal Frontiers: Nordic Legal’s Vision for the Finnish Gambling Market appeared first on European Gaming Industry News.
Andreas Ottenschläger
Austria: Draft bill entered parliamentary consultation
Background
Austria’s governing coalition — ÖVP, SPÖ and NEOS — has agreed a sweeping overhaul of the Gambling Act. The draft bill entered parliamentary consultation on, Monday 29 June 2026. Lead negotiators Andreas Ottenschläger (ÖVP), Jan Krainer (SPÖ) and Christoph Pramhofer (NEOS) call it the biggest reform of the law in 26 years. Two pillars: tougher player protection, and a ground-up rewrite of online licensing.
Timing
No formal Council of Ministers resolution is public yet. What is public: the draft amendments went into parliamentary consultation today. Next comes TRIS — the draft must be notified to the European Commission, says Vienna-based gambling lawyer Arthur Stadler, triggering a standstill of at least three months before parliament can hold a final vote. Extensions are possible.
Cooling-off / non-offering period
The bad-actor clause has three teeth: retroactive tax payment, settlement of player claims, and a non-offering period. On the last point: Under the draft, operators must clear that freeze properly: from 1 January 2027 until the licence is actually granted, they have to shut down their existing unlicensed online offering. Fail to comply, and the penalty escalates fast: any operator that doesn’t observe the cooling-off phase faces an 18-month lock-out from licensing altogether. Stadler’s math: That’s a minimum nine-month freeze, 1 January to end-September 2027 at least depending when the licenses are awarded individually. It looks like that first license might be granted to those new market entrants adopting such early blackout, timewise landing exactly after the moment when Austrian Lotteries’ win2day concession expires on 30 September 2027.
The bad-actor clause has three teeth: retroactive tax payment, settlement of player claims, and a non-offering period. On the last point: Under the draft, operators must clear that freeze properly: From 1 January 2027 until the licence is actually granted, they have to shut down their existing unlicensed online offering. Fail to comply, and the penalty escalates fast: any operator that doesn’t observe the cooling-off phase faces an 18-month lock-out from licensing altogether. Stadler’s math: the legislator has, without saying so explicitly, built in an incentive structure. The floor is a nine-month freeze — 1 January through end-September 2027 — though actual length depends on when individual licences get awarded. The likely sequencing: new entrants who front-load the blackout early position themselves first in line, with awards landing right after Austrian Lotteries’ win2day concession expires on 30 September 2027.
Contradiction
Stadler sees a basic contradiction baked into the package. “Two of the three major elements work against each other. If the Finance Ministry wants to maximise retroactive tax recovery, a mandatory blackout period hands you a tax base of zero for that exact stretch. You can’t optimise for both. Operators are left asking whether the real goal is revenue or exclusion.”
Austria as a high-tax jurisdiction
Beyond the clearance condition — and an unresolved question of whether repaid player amounts can be offset against ongoing tax liabilities — sits the headline number: a 45% GGR tax rate. That puts Austria in elite company, in the same bracket as the UK (40% from April 2026) and the Netherlands (37.8%). “It’s a top-of-the-table tax rate for a market that doesn’t even have a functioning licensed channel yet,” Stadler says. But the tax rate alone doesn’t tell the whole story, he adds. “Even at 45% GGR, whether Austria actually functions as a licensed market depends on the regulatory mix around it (player protection rules, advertising limits, deposit and stake caps, AML obligations and more). You have to look at the framework as a whole and ask whether it’s actually attractive enough for new entrants. That’s the kind of detail that decides whether the channelisation target is achievable.”
Author: Arthur Stadler | STADLER PARTNER
The post Austria: Draft bill entered parliamentary consultation appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Compliance Updates
PlayCity Partners with Streaming Platform Kick to Block Illegal Gambling Ads
PlayCity, the state agency overseeing the gambling and lottery sector in Ukraine, has partnered with streaming platform Kick to further accelerate the blocking of illegal gambling ads on the platform.
“We are directly providing Kick’s headquarters with a list of channels that violate legislation and illegally advertise gambling,” PlayCity said.
The agency said that the first two channels on the platform were blocked during the past week.
In addition, at the agency’s request, access was restricted last week to 37 accounts across TikTok, Instagram, Twitch and Kick, with the blocked accounts having a combined audience of more than 895,000 users.
Specifically, access was restricted to 20 TikTok accounts with 473,000 followers, 11 Instagram accounts with 314,000 followers, four Twitch channels with 107,000 followers, and two Kick channels with 1200 followers.
“Blocking such content helps quickly stop the recruitment of users into gambling through illegal advertising campaigns,” PlayCity said.
The post PlayCity Partners with Streaming Platform Kick to Block Illegal Gambling Ads appeared first on EE Gaming | Global iGaming & Tech Intelligence Hub.
Compliance Updates
KSA – Target for Gambling Tax Increase Not Achieved: Expected Tax Revenues Turn Out Lower
The recent increase in the Dutch gambling tax has failed to achieve its primary financial objectives. This is evident from the “monitor of the effects of the increase in gambling tax,” conducted by the Ministry of Finance and the Dutch Gaming Authority. As of January 1, 2025, the gambling tax was increased from 30.5% to 34.2%, and in 2026 the rate was further raised to 37.8%. The aim of this increase was to raise government revenue. The monitor shows that this goal is not being achieved as expected: the projected tax revenues turned out lower.
The tax increase was expected to yield an additional €108 million in 2025 compared to the previous year, and €216 million in 2026. However, the monitor shows that these amounts are turning out much lower: an additional €2 million was collected in 2025, and €57 million in 2026. Moreover, the tax increase is causing a decrease in revenue from state participations, resulting in even lower additional revenue for the State.
The fact that tax revenues are lower is due to several developments. In the years measured, various measures were taken to better protect players, causing the gross gaming result (GSR) of providers to decrease. This leads to a decrease in the tax base, the amount on which tax must be paid. The tariff increase itself may also have led to a decrease in the tax base, for example because physical establishments of gambling companies were closed in the interest of profitability.
The monitor also examined the effects on market size, channeling, and contributions to charities and sports. It is not possible to draw conclusions regarding this, as multiple changes occurred simultaneously. For instance, the aforementioned rules to better protect players and various advertising restrictions have also impacted the gambling market.
The post KSA – Target for Gambling Tax Increase Not Achieved: Expected Tax Revenues Turn Out Lower appeared first on Americas iGaming & Sports Betting News.
-
Compliance Updates6 days agoDutch Gambling Trade Association Sues Meta Over Illegal Gambling Ads
-
BetWarrior6 days agoKambi Group Extends its Partnership with BetWarrior
-
Amusnet6 days agoAmusnet Strengthens its Position Among Bulgaria’s Leading Employers in ICAP CRIF Ranking
-
Australia6 days agoFeedback Sought on How Public Lotteries are Run in NSW
-
3 Oaks Gaming5 days ago3 Oaks Gaming releases Joker Glitz x1000 slot with stacked multipliers
-
Asia5 days agoPhilWeb Secures ₱2.02 Billion Strategic Investment from Lance Y. Gokongwei to Accelerate AI-Driven Technology Expansion
-
Africa5 days agoBGaming signs PlaylogiQ distribution deal to grow Africa reach
-
3 Oaks Gaming4 days agoWeekend Reels | Week 26: Slot Drops & Trends



