Tag: Regulations

Massachusetts Regulators Allow Wynn Resorts to Drop ‘Wynn’

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The Massachusetts Gaming Commission on Monday made a decision to allow Wynn Resorts to drop  Steve Wynn’s name from its license for a planned $2.5 billion casino in the state. Wynn Resorts has been in the spotlight for quite some time following sexual abuse allegations levelled against Steve Wynn. The gambling commission’s decision came amid ongoing investigations by associated state regulators as part of a process that could affect the company’s operations in Massachusetts.

As of now, Steve Wynn, the company’s fallen founder who resigned a few months back, no longer has anything to do with the planned casino. The regulators have since confirmed that as far as they are concerned, Wynn and the company have effectively parted ways.

“The commission rejects the characterization by Mr. Wynn’s legal counsel that he is nothing more than an ordinary private citizen of the state of Nevada vis-a-vis Wynn Resorts,” the Massachusetts Gaming Commission wrote. “There is, however, substantial evidence that the relationship between Mr. Wynn and Wynn Resorts has been terminated in a meaningful way such that Mr. Wynn no longer falls with the definition of a qualifier at the conclusion of the upcoming annual shareholders meeting.”

The gaming commission’s decision was made on condition that Steve Wynn would not vote at the company’s annual shareholder’s meeting that is slated for next week. The company’s lawyers then requested that Wynn is removed as one of the “qualifiers” for the sake of the company’s Everett casino that has now been renamed the Encore Boston Harbor. Fortunately, all of Steve Wynn’s stock has been sold thus effectively severing all ties between him and the company.

“We are pleased that the Massachusetts Gaming Commission has concluded Steve Wynn no longer has any involvement in our company and should no longer be considered a qualifier,” a Wynn Casino spokeswoman said. “We look forward to continuing to move Encore Boston Harbor forward.”

In addition to this, the company has gone a step further by implementing a policy that requires Wynn Resorts’ officers and directors to report any direct or indirect communication with Steve Wynn or to Wynn LLC Legal counsel. This is particularly important because the company is still being investigated in order to determine how it dealt with the allegations of sexual misconduct.

Hawthorn President Warns of Sports Betting ‘Indoctrination’

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Sports betting is still on the verge of becoming a reality in the United States and while there are people who have always supported it and others who have acknowledged its inevitability and began preparing, there are some who still find the idea of it to be distasteful. This extends to other countries as well, not just the U.S. One such person is Hawthorn president Jeff Kennett who during this week’s promotion of this year’s beyondblue Cup has made public some of his long-term concerns about the impacts of sports betting advertisement on the society.

Like many other Australian Football League clubs, Hawthorn contentiously relies on revenue from poker machines but Mr. Kennett believes that there is a significant distinction between the poker and sports betting. According to him, poker machines are strictly for adults and children are not allowed to play.

“The worry I have with sports betting is that it is indoctrinating a whole generation of young people that their future, their happiness, is associated with gambling,” Kennett said of sports betting. “When we have sports betting up there being thrust down the throats of young people on a daily basis – whether it be on television, on radio etcetera – you are indoctrinating them into a lifestyle aspiration, which I think is very dangerous.”

Last year, the Australian federal government introduced a legislation that set limits to when sports betting advertisements can be shown. Kennett, on the other hand, believes that this is not enough and the government should implement a blanket ban or at least subject them to the same restrictions that casinos are subject to as far as advertising is concerned.

“If I was in control, I would apply the same rules to promotion and advertising of sports betting that applies to casinos and gaming machines, and that is that you can’t advertise it publicly,” he added.

Kennett also believes that the effects will not be seen for the next 10 to 15 years but it will too late by then and there is a high likelihood that other problems will have spawned from it as well.

LeoVegas Online Casino Fined for Accepting Bets from Addicts

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LeoVegas, an online casino operator that is licensed and regulated by the UK Gambling Commission, has been fined £600,000 for failing to refund the deposits of over 11,000 problem gamblers who had requested to be barred from participating in the games the operator offers. The fine was imposed by the UK Gambling Commission which about a month ago also imposed a £1 million fine on Sky Bet for similar transgressions.

The rollout of a planned industry-wide self-exclusion scheme that has been delayed for a while now constitute a majority of LeoVegas online casino’s failings – the scheme would allow gamblers who were developing addictions to voluntarily bar themselves from placing bets with any gambling operator under the gambling commission’s jurisdiction.

The regulator conducted an investigation whose findings revealed that 1,894 LeoVegas online casino customers were deliberately targeted by marketing material that was sent directly to them even though they had already signed up to the platform’s self-exclusion scheme. Also, the online casino allowed over 400 of its customers to bet £200,000 over two months without any intervention by the company – the company did not even advise them to apply for its 24-hour “cooling-off” period.

Moreover, the commission also found that the online casino failed to return funds that were deposited by 11,205 customers who had chosen to self-exclude and close their accounts. However, as part of the settlement, the casino will be returning more than £14,000 to the affected customers. The fine that was imposed on LeoVegas also happens to encompass 41 misleading advertisements that it had issued between April 2017 and January 2018 including adverts that failed to mention the restrictions that were part of certain promotions offered by the platform.

“The outcome of this case should leave no one in any doubt that we will be tough with licenses holders who mislead consumers or fail to meet the standards we set in our license conditions and codes of practice,” said Neil McArthur, the UK Gambling Commission’s chief executive. “We want operators to learn the lessons from our investigations and use those lessons to raise standards.”

Despite having been fined by the Gambling Commission, the company has continued to post positive numbers and reports for year on year growth. In the first quarter of this year, for instance, the operator’s revenue went up 76 percent to a whopping £ 68.2 million. Everything is about to get better for the company regardless of the fine since its management has expressed “high ambitions for compliance with laws and regulations” so as to continuously improve its processes and procedures.

“We have had discussions with the UK Gambling Commission, UKGC, on suspected cases of breaches of the British gaming rules. A clear majority of cases are attributable to affiliate marketing. It’s good that UKGC puts increased demands on us in the gaming industry. It is an advantage for serious actors who both have the will and ambition to work in a regulated market,” LeoVegas online casino’s officials commented.

Premier League Supports US Sports Betting Expansion

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The English Premier League recently voiced its support for the vision that the NBA, MLB, and PGA Tour have had for the expansion of sports betting in the United States in the likely case that the country’s Supreme Court abolishes the Profession and Amateur Sports Protection Act (PASPA) which prohibits all but four states from legalizing sports betting. The United States Supreme Court is expected to deliver the much-anticipated ruling by the end of June but already various stakeholders are preparing for a future where sports betting is legal.

The National Basketball Association, the Major League Baseball (MLB) and the PGA Tour have all backed the idea of legalized sports betting – the NBA and MLB have even outlined some of the potential laws and terms they expect to be implemented should sports betting be legalized. Some of these potential laws will require sports betting firms to use official league data, share customer data and pay an “integrity fee” as well as allow the leagues to have an input on the wagering options the sportsbooks can offer.

The English Premier League (EPL) through Adrian Ford, Football DataCo general manager has made it public that it would support the approach by the NBA and MLB – Football DataCo is the official rights-holder for the Premier and League as well as all the other professional football leagues in England.

“Broadly, we don’t think what the leagues are asking for is fundamentally wrong, if you’re trying to come up with a framework that works for both parties,” Adrian Ford said in an interview with ESPN.

“We would not see why there would be an issue about sports getting a return from betting. We’d echo some of the high-level statements the NBA has made. If someone is making money off us, there’s no reason why we shouldn’t be interested in that and why we shouldn’t have some level of involvement in the commercial return. It’s clearly not what we have here.”

Why Is the EPL Interested?

It is no secret that betting has been a key component of the English Premier League’s operation. As such, it would not come as a surprise when it joins the parade of United States professional sports leagues that are currently seeking a revenue cut from sports betting operators

“When it comes to customers and integrity and really trying to provide the best experience, official data, backed by the leagues, is fact; you need a gold standard,” Ford added. “Ultimately, the common goal – and it is easier said than done – must be to have a functioning, regulated, safe betting market that brings all the offshore money onshore for the good of the sport, for the protection of the players and presumably for the good of the states that are going to get tax revenues.”

The involvement of the EPL sets a precedent for the leagues being granted control over data rights in the United States which will be a win for all of them.

France Lowers Crypto Taxes, Labels Them ‘Moveable Property’

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According to April 26 report from Le Monde, a local news outlet in France, the Conseil d’Etat (Council of State) of the country has lowered the tax rate on cryptocurrencies from the initial 45 percent to a flat rate of 19 percent. In addition to this, all the profit that will arise from cryptocurrency sales will be considered as capital gains of ‘moveable property’ as stipulated by the new regulations. This move follows the reclassification of bitcoin that is separate from commercial and non-commercial activity.

According to the Council, “The sale of ‘bitcoins’ [fell under] the principle from the category of capital gains of movable property.”

The news report also mentioned that the Council of State’s decision was partly motivated by an appeal that was filed earlier this year to the country’s highest regulatory body. The appeal sort to have the harsh regulations reviewed and changed so as to ensure the survival and growth of the French crypto industry.

Profits amassed from cryptocurrency mining will, however, be exempted from this and they will, therefore, incur higher tax rates as they are still considered to be industrial and commercial profits. These harsh cryptocurrency-focused tax rules that initially encompassed all transactions came to be in mid-2014. Four years down the line, Bruno Le Maire, France’s economy minister, assembled a task force for the sole purpose of scrutinizing the state of cryptocurrency regulations in France.

“Our goal is to provide legal certainty for those who seek it, without hindering those who want to follow their own path. We have a rather liberal approach. We work for a flexible, non-dissuasive framework. At the same time, we are not naive either, we know that these products can be risky” noted the finance ministry.

Other than the finance ministry’s efforts in putting together a task force to review the country’s cryptocurrency regulations, it has also been reported that it the financial market regulator has been considering legislation that would foster the development of Initial Coin Offerings (ICO) in France.

Belgium Gambling Laws Declare Video Game Loot Boxes Illegal

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Loot boxes have had a pretty rough time in the past couple of months and the troubles are not likely to go away anytime soon. Just recently, the Netherlands declared that loot boxes constituted gambling and were therefore illegal and now Belgium has made a similar move.

Following an investigation that the Belgian Gaming Commission had been conducting on some popular video game titles including FIFA 18, Counter-Strike: Global Offensive (CS: GO) and Star Wars Battlefront 2, the Belgian minister of justice, Koen Geens, on April 25 announced the results. Of the four video games, only Stars Wars Battlefront 2 was not in violation of the Belgian gambling legislation but this is only because EA, the company that develops Star Wars, removed loot boxes from the game after some debacles when it was launched.

OverWatch, CS:GO and FIFA 28, on the other hand, still had loot boxes which under Belgian gambling law are considered to be games of chance. As such, so long as they contained the loot boxes the games were illegal and they are forced to remove the loot boxes or “risk a prison sentence of up to five years and a fine of up to 800,000 euros.” The penalties could be doubled in cases where minors are involved.

“Mixing games and gambling, especially at a young age, is dangerous for mental health,” Geens said. “We must ensure that children and adults are not presented with games of chance when they are looking for fun in a video game.”

Loot boxes are by no means a new concept in mobile gaming applications but the recent upsurge in their inclusion in console-based video games have become a huge concern for parents as well as many other responsible parties. Furthermore, the gaming community has been very welcoming to initiatives that seek to have the insidious inventions removed from their games.

While regions like the US and the UK have Okayed the use of loot boxes, the declaration that they are illegal in the Netherlands and Belgium has presented what can be referred to as a dramatic turn for the video game loot box issue. If anything is to go by, game developers in the whole of Europe may be forced to make significant changes to the way the games they develop work, especially because more countries in the continent could launch similar initiatives.

Unlike the case in the Netherlands, Belgium has not imposed a deadline for the implementation of the necessary changes. Geens hopes to approach this is in a different way and this will involve dialogue between the country’s gaming commission and the affected video game developers.

Japanese Government Approves Bill Paving Way for Casinos

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On Friday, the Japanese government put aside gambling addiction and antisocial behavior concerns and went ahead to approve a bill that will provide a broad regulatory framework that will foster the establishment of a casino industry in the country. All that remains is for the document, which is referred to as the Integrated Resorts (IR) Implementation Bill, to be passed the Diet voting – the Diet is Japan’s parliament.

According to Kyodo News, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his government are aiming to have the bill pass the Diet during the ongoing session that will end on June 20. The Prime Minister hopes that the new casino industry will serve as an attraction for more overseas visitors which will, in turn, assist in providing the much-needed boost to the country’s regional economies outside Tokyo.

However, regardless of how promising the bill is, there is a high likelihood that deliberations will not have ended by the time the Diet sessions ends in June. This is due to the existence of a number of political scandals involving Prime Minister Abe, his minister as well as some ministry officials that have had a disruptive effect on Japan’s parliamentary proceedings.

“We will promote tourism with visitors from all over the world spending days while taking complete measures to address various concerns including gambling addiction,” the Prime Minister said in a government meeting that was attended by related officials.

If the Japanese parliament passes the bill, casinos will begin operating in the country in the mid-2020s. This might happen much earlier in some places – Osaka’s governor Ichiro Matsui, for instance, believes that a casino resort could open in the region by 2023 if Diet approves the necessary legislation quickly enough.

What the Bill Entails

Under the bill, there will be a fixed 30 percent tax rate on any casino gross revenue generated by all the gaming resorts that will be established in the country. Also, there will be a 6,000 yen or $55 entrance fee for Japanese locals – this will only be for a 24-hour access period. Furthermore, Japanese locals will be limited to three casino visits per week and 10 casino visits per month in aggregate, a measure that is probably put in place to assist with gambling addiction. Foreigners are the luckiest bunch in this case since casino entry is free and there will be less stringent limitations if any.

The Japanese government will be introducing a government-managed license system for the casinos in an effort to alleviate some of the concerns that have been raised pertaining to the launch of a casino industry in the country. The system will require operators that wish to obtain gaming licenses to submit business plans and establish measures for preventing problem gambling. In addition to this, background checks will be carried out to ensure that the applicants do not have ties to any organized crime groups.

China Bans Online Poker and Its Promotion on Social Media

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According to a report by Inside Asian Gaming, China has launched a crackdown on online poker operation and its promotion in the country. Beginning June 1, online poker will no longer be considered a competitive sport and thus not only will it be illegal but also its promotion via all social media platforms will be banned. The impacts of the ban are already rippling throughout Asia and beyond but the Chinese gaming industry is certainly going to get hit the hardest.

Regardless of the fact that gamblers are not allowed to play online poker for real money in China, the game has grown rapidly partly due to their promotion on social media. Therefore, places like Manila, Macau and Jeju Island in South Korea are certainly going to feel the pinch once the ban is implemented as from June 1.

According to the requirements of the ban, all mobile apps and device software offering any form of social online poker games are to be shut down and removed from the app stores. In addition to this, social media platforms like WeChat will no longer be allowed to promote any social poker offerings, particularly any Texas Hold’em product. The huge implications mentioned earlier emanate from the fact that poker in China to a large extent is played on these apps.

Operators from other parts of Asia are also bound to be affected by the ban specifically because Chinese players make up nearly half of their customers. Playing poker online is one of the main ways for players in Asia to qualify for live tournaments. Even if Chinese players choose to attend live poker events in other places, they will not be in the loop because on the social media ban – obviously, they cannot attend live poker events that they do not know about.

“It is a shame that the government won’t allow people talking about the game,” said Stephen Lai, the managing director of Hong Kong Poker Players Association. “We have been very happy that China has been allowing social gaming, not for money, so that people from China have a chance to practise and travel around Asia and beyond to play poker, where it is legal to do so.

Chinese players won’t have a chance to practise, and they won’t get to know about legal poker events around Asia. Poker has gone back to square one in China.”

While the Chinese government is yet to issue an official statement regarding the decision some operators such Tencent are already making moves to comply with the new regulations. Apparently, Tencent and some other companies are already removing their social online poker apps from the app store.

Sweden to Tighten Grasp on Online Gambling with New Measures

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The Swedish government is hoping to implement tighter regulatory oversight for online gambling in the country through proposed legislation that if passed will take effect in 2019. The proposed new legislation is meant to institute a revamped licensing system, establish stronger prohibitions against illegal operation as well as instate more effective consumer protection measures. According to an official press release by the Swedish government, the proposed measures will introduce a fee of nearly $84,000 for both an online casino license and a sports betting license.

The issue of unregulated online gambling in Sweden has been a major concern for the country’s government for a very long time. Ardalan Shekarabi, Sweden’s Public Administration minister spoke about this in a recent interview where he emphasized that new regulatory measures needed to be put in place.

“Unregulated gambling has taken over and gambling is used in criminal activities. It is 14 years since the first in a line of gambling inquiries was appointed. It is now time for us to move from words to actions and regain control of the Swedish gambling market. We are reinforcing the Swedish Gambling Authority, granting it more and sharper tools. Unlicensed operators will be shut out of the market and license-holders must conduct their activities in accordance with the law,” he said.

The minister and other officials have also affirmed that the new regulations would go a long way in ensuring higher levels of consumer protection. For instance, all online gambling operators will be required to offer the players the choice of excluding themselves. Similarly, the operators will be restricted to offering bonuses on only the first deposits.

Furthermore, if the proposed measures that are currently being considered in the Swedish capital are passed online gambling operators will be prohibited from marketing their wares in the Swedish market. The measures would also give Sweden’s gaming operator the power to order the country’s local internet service providers to display warning messages on sites that are not licensed and block any associated online payments.

The proposed legislation would also introduce a new “gambling fraud” criminal offense which would, in turn, lead to the establishment of a government commission for the sole purpose of handling instances of match-fixing.

Copycat Lawsuits Piling Up Against Social Casino Operators

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A slew of lawsuits have begun piling up against Washington State social gambling operators in the wake of a federal court ruling which found that Big Fish Casino which was previously owned by Churchill Downs violated Washington State gaming laws. All these copycat lawsuits hope to capitalize on the recent court ruling and state laws that govern and regulate online gambling.

As of Monday, Geekwire reports that four lawsuits had already been filed against four other social gaming operators namely High 5 Games, Playtika, DoubleDown Interactive and Huuge Games. Each of these operators offers a series of casino games like blackjack, slots, and roulette that use virtual chips. These chips have no monetary value but players must have them in order to play. Therefore, when players run out of the chips, they can either opt to wait until the game offers more free chips or buy a huge number of chips with real money and get back to playing.

All four suits further user similar language and arguments in their filings which also happen to be centre around the same arguments of the Big Fish Casino case. This takes advantage of a vague clause in Washington state law that backed the idea that the chips represent “something of value” even though they are not worth any money on their own.

“Double Down Casino games are illegal gambling games because they are online games at which players wager things of value (the chips) and by an element of chance (e.g., by spinning an online slot machine) are able to obtain additional entertainment and extend gameplay (by winning additional chips),” states one of the suits.

All these cases including the Big Fish casino case that preceded them are very likely to have major implications for the casual casino games market as a number of social casino gaming providers today depend on in-app purchases as revenue sources. The lawsuits represent an emerging backlash against this model. Already, online gambling lawsuits are becoming fairly common but the tide turned in favour of the petitioners and this opened the door for similar occurrences in the near future.

Playing It Safe

Again, following the Big Fish Casino ruling, PokerStars became one of the first social gambling operators to stop offering free play games in an effort adhere to the terms outlined by the March 28 Court of Appeals decision. According to the Washington State Gambling Commission press release, PokerStars opted out of the state’s online gambling industry. The gambling commission however assured the public that it had nothing to with this move by the online gaming operator:

“We are not a party to the civil court case, we did not testify in the case, and we did not order these sites to discontinue free online play for Washington residents. Customers with concerns should contact these websites directly,” reads the April 4 press release.

PokerStars’ parent company, The Stars Group, released a statement shortly after saying that the company was “reviewing the rulings and ensuring that our activities are in line with state regulations.” The company also said that it would reinstate players to their status before the free game offerings were altered once the law is clarified.