EUROPE

Euromat, the European gaming and amusement body that represents 23 national associations from 20 countries, will in October focus on the latest regulatory moves in the eastern European market at its fourth Eastern European Gaming Summit (EEGS). The event is scheduled for 17 October in Sofia, Bulgaria.

FIJI

The Fijian government is inviting expressions of interest from casino operators who could develop and run the nation’s first venue. A casino is seen as a way to attract visitors from China, India and Europe. A regulatory structure similar to those of Malaysia and Singapore is promised.

Said Fiji’s attorney general and minister for tourism, Aiyaz Sayed-Khaiyum: “The obvious economic benefits from such development, and which will create another segment in the tourism sector, will be job creation as well as additional revenue for the government.” But he added that “while casino operations means Fiji is developing leisure activities for the tourism industry, at the same time we do not want to harm Fiji’s tourism brand which the government and the people of Fiji have invested so much in”.

LATVIA

The Latvian finance ministry and lotteries and gambling regulator are making substantial changes to the rules for online gambling, including a five percent tax on gross gaming revenue. Banks and payment processors will have to block transactions involving unlicensed operators. A minimum player age of 21 will be enforced.

NEPAL

Nepal’s Supreme Court has turned down a bid by entrepreneur Rakesh Wadhwa to halt the Nepalese government’s cancellation of his licence for four casinos.

POLAND

Gaming Laboratories International has become the first firm accredited by Poland’s finance ministry to provide independent gaming testing in the country, and has opened an office in Krakow.

RUSSIA

The velvet glove has come off Moscow’s iron fist after the failure of its two-year-old attempt to limit gambling.

In 2009, the Russian government banned gaming throughout the country except in  four designated zones. But these were so remote (to the extent that a recent spoof policy leak proposed three more in the depths of the Arctic Ocean, inside an active volcano, and in the radioactive wasteland of Chernobyl) that few Russian gamblers trekked to them, and illegal operations flourished. In Moscow in the first six weeks of this year alone, for example, nearly 400 illegal casinos were shut down.

Yet operators of these underground venues could only be punished for running an unregistered enterprise, a relatively minor infraction.

No longer. Following president Dmitry Medvedev’s push for criminalisation, the State Duma – Russia’s parliament – has now approved much fiercer laws, covering online and mobile as well as land-based gaming, with prison time facing larger operators.

Under the new rules, individuals can be fined up to about $170, officials ten times that amount, and companies as much as $36,000. Gaming equipment is, of course, confiscated. And, most seriously, those who have made more than about $50,000 profit from illegal gaming can face up to six years in jail.

Already, one Briton is awaiting trial under the new rules. Forty-three-year-old Darren Keane was previously CEO of Storm International, a legitimate casino operator in Russia before the nationwide ban. Its properties included the Shangri La in Moscow as well as sites in Bishkek and Yerevan, the capitals of Kyrgystan and Armenia respectively.

It’s alleged by authorities that the Moscow Shangri La had reopened in defiance of the ban. Keane was first held in a detention centre but has since been released to house arrest, “taking into account his co-operation with the investigation”, said the state news agency RIA Novosti; that decision came after the raising of concerns in the West over Keane’s health, although the news agency implied they were not a factor.

Either way, Keane’s impending trial is likely to be – for Moscow – a welcome demonstration that this time the Russian government is serious about restricting gaming.

SOUTH AFRICA

The provincial government of Gauteng is to review casino taxation for the first time in more than 13 years, as it seeks to raise revenue to fund investment in infrastructure. Currently set at nine percent, it is likely to rise substantially; South African provinces typically levy between 12 and 15 percent, with Western Cape going as high as 17 percent. Gauteng, which includes Johannesburg, has six casinos.

UK

The UK is to regulate online gambling at the point of consumption, in line with other European states such as France and Italy, meaning that operators will have to hold a Gambling Commission licence if they are to serve British players or advertise within the country.

The current “white list” of territories whose online gambling operators are permitted to conduct transactions with Britons – Alderney, Antigua and Barbuda, the Isle of Man, and Tasmania – will disappear, although it is expected that firms in those jurisdictions will continue to be treated favourably. Operators currently licensed in the “white list” territories or European Economic Area countries will be able to obtain transitional licences so that they can continue operating while full licences are sought. It is expected that online operators will be taxed 15 percent of gross gambling revenue, while those offering bets on horse racing will have to pay 10.75 percent of gross profits for the sport’s levy.

The owners of the Opera House casino in the northern English town of Scarborough are going to the High Court with a dispute over the granting of a new casino licence there to Apollo Leisure.

Noble Organisation has secured the approval of local authorities in Blackpool for a casino as part of its Coral Island amusement arcade. It will be Blackpool’s fourth, competing with the Grosvenor, Genting and Paris venues.

U.S.

The District of Columbia is developing detailed regulations for the first legal online poker and casino games in the U.S. It is expected to authorise ten to 20 locations where players aged 19 and above can bring their own laptops to participate.

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