comment
Julian Harris, Partner, Harris Hagan harris@harrishagan. com
Italy was one of the first European jurisdictions to bring in a regulatory regime for online gambling. A licence is required in order to transact with customers in Italy. Italy’s licensing model has proved successful, despite a tax rate of 20% of gross gambling yield for fixed odds games, as licences have been taken up by a number of operators. This is partly due to fact that as a ‘skill game’, poker enjoys a lower tax rate of 3%. In 2010 the revenue for online poker in Italy was ¤3.14bn.
At present, Italy requires that the primary gambling server is located in the EEA, or alternatively that a mirror server be located in Italy. This requirement causes difficulties for operators based in jurisdictions such as Alderney and the Isle of Man. These regulators have been in discussions with the Italian regulator, AAMS, with a view to securing the necessary change in legislation which would permit AAMS to agree with a non-EEA jurisdiction that servers may be located there. It is anticipated that the legislative change will go through in the near future and that when that happens AAMS will finalise an agreement with the Alderney regulator and possibly others. This development would make Italy a more attractive jurisdiction for international operators who prefer to have a centre of operations offshore.
the decree on issuing of new licences and once current licences have been upgraded to the new regime.
This means new entrants into the market might be able to compete in these new games under almost the same conditions as existing operators provided that following the publication of the decree on new licences they are fully compliant with the technical requirements.
Giulio Coraggio, Gaming and Technology Lawyer at DLA Piper Italy, said: “In this context potential new entrants might consider acquiring a current licencee in order to be able to go live together with the current operators and therefore not risking any competitive disadvantage.
“The Italian casino gaming market thus offers the potential to put current operators and new entrants on the same footing, but new entrants will need to react quickly in order to enjoy the full benefits of this regulatory delay.”
There will be stringent measures to block non- Italian licence holders which last year accounted for some 33 per cent of e-gaming activity in the country. Measures will include IP blocking and restrictions on advertising dot net sites and therefore channelling players into the real money poker rooms.
the italian casino GaminG maRket offeRs the
potential to put cuRRent and new entRants on the same footinG.
The main points of the new legal framework 88/09 include the following:
• The introduction of new games – cash mode skill games (poker) and casino games (except slots)
• There will be one licence issued for all regulated games. There will be up to 200 new licences available to those in EEA countries which will be valid for nine years.
• Percentage of bets to be returned to players through winnings will be 90 per cent.
• The maximum initial stake during each gaming session is €1,000.
• The maximum buy-in for poker tournaments/skill games will be €250 (raised from €100).
• An AAMS granted licence is required for remote gaming services for both on and off- shore based businesses and EU businesses.
• The one off cost of the licence is between €300,000 and €350,000. No matter when the licence is issued it will lapse in June 2016.
One off licencee fee for new licence: €300,000+VAT or €50,000+VAT for bingo only or €350,000+VAT for licences encompassing online bingo
Licencee fee – 1st semester €50,000. 2nd semester is 2.5% NGR
• The remote gambling licence will cover fixed odds/pool sports and horse race betting, skill gaming (such as online poker and card tournaments) online scratch and win, online bingo, online casino, online poker, cash games, bets on virtual events and betting exchange.
• The AAMS licence is open to any EEA country plus Iceland, Norway and Liechtenstein.
• Companies applying must have a turnover
50
italy
Page 1 |
Page 2 |
Page 3 |
Page 4 |
Page 5 |
Page 6 |
Page 7 |
Page 8 |
Page 9 |
Page 10 |
Page 11 |
Page 12 |
Page 13 |
Page 14 |
Page 15 |
Page 16 |
Page 17 |
Page 18 |
Page 19 |
Page 20 |
Page 21 |
Page 22 |
Page 23 |
Page 24 |
Page 25 |
Page 26 |
Page 27 |
Page 28 |
Page 29 |
Page 30 |
Page 31 |
Page 32 |
Page 33 |
Page 34 |
Page 35 |
Page 36 |
Page 37 |
Page 38 |
Page 39 |
Page 40 |
Page 41 |
Page 42 |
Page 43 |
Page 44 |
Page 45 |
Page 46 |
Page 47 |
Page 48 |
Page 49 |
Page 50 |
Page 51 |
Page 52 |
Page 53 |
Page 54 |
Page 55 |
Page 56 |
Page 57 |
Page 58 |
Page 59 |
Page 60 |
Page 61 |
Page 62 |
Page 63 |
Page 64 |
Page 65 |
Page 66 |
Page 67 |
Page 68