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PREFECT SEIZES CONTROL OF B PLUS
The Prefect of Rome has excercised the terms of B Plus’ gaming licence to appoint a new board of directors to run the firm Italy - VLT Operations
In a notice to operators on August 7th, the Prefect of Rome ordered ‘Extraordinary and Temporary Measures’ as per the terms of its concession, to put the control of B Plus Giocolegal under state control. B Plus is now being administred by Dr. Vincenzo Suppa, Dott. Luca Cristini, Ing. Stefano Sestili.
The new directors issued the following statement:
SOUTH AFRICA –ZITRO BETS ON AFRICAN MARKETS Zitro recenly took part in South Africa’s most important gam- ing event: The Wild Coast Winter Games. The international sales team described as very successful Zitro’s staging at this singular event where, in addition to establishing com- mercial relations, an important social network is created through the parallel activities held around the show: golf tournaments, sailing regattas, etc. Zitro continues its suc- cessful path towards international expansion, taking Video Bingo to all four corners of the world.
CZECH REPUBLIC - OVER 1,000 ILLEGAL SLOT HALLS The Czech Republic currently has at Least 117 illegal gam- bling clubs according to a new online map launched by the Association of Central Lottery System Operators (SPELOS).
The map was created in response to the growth of illegal gaming in the Czech Republic. SPELOS admits the figure is wildy under-exaggerated, with perhaps as many as 1,000 illegal gambling rooms in the country, according to SPELOS. Petr Creak, the association's Managing Director, said that the illegal market is booming in locations where Town Halls went too far with their regulation of legalised gambling and is rife in areas that have a supposed ‘zero tolerance’ to legalised gambling. “At the same time the districts are dealing with rising unemployment and crime, plus shortfalls in public budgets, explained Mr. Creak of a local government policy that is back-firing spectacularly.
The Finance Ministry registered 59,000 technical gaming devices at the end of March, a drop from 61,026 at the end of last year. Another 1,500 administrative proceedings are under way seeking to revoke the legitimate licenses of oper- ators of VLT facilities, and this applies to over 10,000 current locations according to government figures.
LATVIA - REGULATOR BLACKLISTS ONLINE SITES The Latvian gambling regulator (IAUI) has drawn up a black- list of unlicensed gambling sites that includes PokerStars, Full Tilt, Bet365, Unibet and
888.com, and is demanding Internet Service Providers block them from Latvian players.
“Internet providers now have obligation to restrict access to illegal online gambling sites,” said IAUI in a statement. In total, 20 online gambling sites have been singled out for the blacklist, with more expected to be added at a later date. The list has been drawn up in accordance with the country’s 2011 Gaming Law which permits the blocking of unlicensed sites.
The regulator has also ordered financial institutions to block online gambling transactions between customers and off- shore sites. Under the current regulations, for example, a company applying for a license is not permitted to be majori- ty-owned by foreigners. The Latvian Gaming Business Association (LGBA) stated recently that Latvia’s unlicensed online gambling market was worth €17.4m ($23.3m) per year.
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“As the new directors of B Plus, we would like to reassure you [the operator] that our primary goal is to ensure the continuation and development of activities, according to those plans of the Company, which has been shown over the years a great capacity to successfully carry out the busi- ness in which it is involved. We are confident that with the contribution of all the staff and our part- ners we will continue the journey of B Plus.”
The move is in accordance with a recent law approved by the Italian Parliament, which states that if there is a pending judicial proceeding against a company holding a public license, such as a gaming license, the head of the anti-corrup- tion office can require the head of the police to appoint commissioners in order to temporarely run the company. Dr. Vincenzo Suppa, Dott. Luca Cristini and Ing. Stefano Sestili have been
appointed to fulfil this role, preserving the assets of the company that has over 300 employees and generates over €1bn in tax for the state annually.
This new episode of the dispute comes after B Plus brought a claim against the Ministry of Home Affairs and the Prefect of Rome for €530m in damages due to the harm suffered by the compa- ny because of the measures previously adopted against them. A measure that has spectacularly back-fired.
It is clear that the state simply cannot afford to jeopardise the tax generated by B Plus. It is now increasingly likely that this temporary board of directors will re-assign the company’s 12,000 VLT licences to other concessionaires, or to a poten- tially new concessionaire that would seek to acquire B Plus outright.
An acquisition would be favoured by AAMS, the Italian gambling regulator, and the Government, since it would avoid a new tender process and instead transfer a going concern, so that the pur- chaser might acquire only the assets of the com- pany that are of its interest limiting the liabilities potentially transferred.
UK London’s Ritz Casino has won a court case forcing Noora Abdullah Mahawish Al-Daher to pay £1m plus interest from a gambling debt she owed with a judge ruling it was significant that she and another family member racked up losses of £3m in Las Vegas, just a few months later. Mrs Al-Daher, wife of the foreign minister of Oman, only paid half of her £2m total to the Ritz with cheques written on April 3 2012 dishonoured. She claimed that the casino had been ‘under a duty of care’ knowing she was a problem gambler. High court deputy judge Seys Llewellyn QC said though there was no legal authority that backed up her case and ruled in favour of the casino ‘in the sum of £1m, as claimed.’
GTECH to provide Intelligen VLT system for Greece’s OPAP
GREECE GTECH S.p.A. has announced that its wholly-owned subsidiary GTECH Canada has been selected to provide its INTELLIGEN VLT Central Information System to Greek lottery operator OPAP, one of Europe’s largest listed gaming companies. GTECH was chosen from among four vendors in an open competitive procurement process to provide OPAP’s VLT Central Information System to monitor and control up to 35,000 VLTs in OPAP’s new network.
GTECH is expected to connect INTELLIGEN to OPAP and con- cessionaire VLTs beginning in late 2014, following system certi-
fication by the Hellenic Gaming Commission.
“GTECH’s extensive experience deploying large-scale, open stan- dards-based VLT Central Systems for World Lottery Association customers around the world will help OPAP max- imise the benefits of its new VLT program,” said Walter Bugno, President and CEO, GTECH International. “INTELLIGEN’s open-standards architecture and foundational features, including its integrated Responsible Gaming solution, will ensure the program’s success and long-term sustainability, which ultimately benefits the people of Greece.”
GTECH’s Central Information System will provide OPAP with the ability to connect to the world’s largest VLT manufactur- ers’ machines through the Game to System (G2S) protocol; advanced network functionality, including multi-level jackpots and remote game downloading; an integrated responsible gaming solution; advanced business ana- lytics; player services manage- ment; and proactive diagnostics.
OPAP became a valued GTECH customer in March 2014 when it selected GTECH as the strategic partner for OPAP’s online sports betting operations in Greece. The solution was launched in three months, providing players with an optimal betting experience and allowing OPAP to benefit from the new technology in time for the 2014 FIFA World Cup.
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