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GamingLawPills No. 26 covers the UK proposal on a credit card gambling ban and threats of the German State of Hesse to set its own gambling industry
UK proposal for credit card gambling ban
The UK Culture Secretary, Jeremy Wright warned bookmakers and banks of the UK Government intention to ban gamblers from using their credit cards to place bets. The purpose of this alleged regulation is to take action in order to protect vulnerable customers which may be lightened imposing a daily or weekly limit on how much can be taken off credit cards to gamble.
According to the statement released to media press, Mr. Wright said that:
“protecting people from the risks of gambling related harm is vital and all businesses with connections to gambling – be that bookmakers, social media platforms or banks – must be socially responsible“.
As a consequence, the industry regulator – the UK Gambling Commission – will likely launch a call for evidence on the matter in February 2019, adding that regulation could follow. This proposal is part of a broader program that will also lead to the government to address progress on self-exclusion aimed at helping addicted players to opt out from betting.
The German State of Hesse seeks individual gambling regulation
The governing coalition of the State of Hesse in Germany released their official agreement, indicating their priorities for their current political term. Among these, the coalition parties are promising to develop their own gambling laws if other German states do not agree on “satisfactory regulation” of gambling by the end of this year.
The Hessian coalition agreement provides for:
- a consistent protection procedure for players in the online environment;
- the screening for minors in gaming and bookies halls;
- better systems to address problems of addicted players; and
- available information about help for gambling addiction issues.
Germany’s gambling market is regulated by the State Treaty on gambling which called for the legalization of online sports betting but put an arbitrary cap on the number of online betting licenses and with a number of legal disputes still in place. Therefore, the State of Hesse aims to launch its own regulatory system through an expanded regulation of gambling ,while at the same time increasing funding for the association representing all sporting clubs and associations in the state.
The end of 2019 will also coincide with a break clause in the Treaty, which would allow Hesse to withdraw from the Treaty and develop its own regulatory model for gambling.
I am Vincenzo Giuffrè, you can drop me a line @ vincenzo.giuffre@dlapiper.com and read the previous issues of GamingLawPills here. Also don’t forget to try Prisca, our GDPR chatbot described HERE and stay tuned and register to our newsletter!
