Te Latvian gambling market has grown significantly since the early 1990s and independence. Te first casino opened in 1991 and around this time companies organising lotteries also began to set up businesses. Te sector, however, remained unregulated, so growth was sporadic and spontaneous.
Ten, in 1995, a law was introduced to regulate the gambling sector. Te Law on Lotteries and Gambling was approved by parliament and amended several times over the next decade and then finally launched in 2006, which regulated the online gambling sector.
Illegal gambling is not tolerated by the government and there are strict measures and precautions in place. Each online casino must re-register with the Lotteries and Gaming Supervisory Inspection (IAUI) each year, whilst a blacklist was created in 2014 to block unlicensed domains. In 2021, almost 600 decisions were taken to block illegal domains.
All sectors such as casino gaming, betting and lotteries are regulated by the IAUI and the law criteria includes:
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A licence to operate is required and companies must have a share capital of at least €1.4m whilst the interest of foreign members or stockholders shall not exceed 49 per cent - this doesn’t apply to investors in the EU or EEA.
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Licences are issued by the Lotteries and Gambling Supervisory Inspection (IAUI) for an indefinite period but re-registered each year.
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Gambling can only be operated in casinos, gambling halls, bingo halls and totalisator or betting points. Slot machines can only be installed in casinos and gambling halls and must be operated through a monitoring system network for data exchange with the IAUI.
Illegal gambling is not tolerated by the government and there are strict measures and precautions in place. Each online casino must re-register with the
Lotteries and Gaming Supervisory Inspection (IAUI) each year, whilst a blacklist was created in 2014 to block unlicensed domains. In 2021, almost 600 decisions were taken to block illegal domains.
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Casinos must operate at least 10 gaming tables (Riga) or five tables (outside of Riga).
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Gambling halls must operate at least 20 slot machines.
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Prize money in casinos can be paid immediately if €720 or less. For amounts of €721-€14,300 this is paid within 24 hours and amounts over €14,300 will be paid out within 30 days.
NEWSWIRE / INTERACTIVE / MARKET DATA P179
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