Italian residents are currently not allowed to gamble on internet websites – except on those holding a concession from the state regulator, the AAMS. The Italian Chamber of Deputies is currently examining if a remote gambling decree will extend those concessions to operators licensed by other EEA Member States.
There is still hot political debate on the draft regulation concerning remote gambling activities and the criteria to be met by operators wishing to offer remote gambling services in Italy, approved by the Senate in March 2009 and currently under examination by the Chamber of Deputies1.
As a matter of fact, the provisions within the draft derive from the initial draft Decree notified to the European Commission in December 2007 and have now been included within the annual Community law, which lays down the relevant Italian legislative adjustments due to EU and EC obligations through the entering into force of European Acts, the amendment of incompatible Italian laws and the execution of the European Court of Justice rulings2.
According to this draft, the gambling provisions are aimed at combating any illegal and unauthorised form of remote gambling and to enforce measures to protect players – especially with regard to minors. It balances these goals with a competition process between all the involved operators.
A clear purpose is also to solve the pending infringement procedures started by the European Commission against Italy according to Art. 226 of the EC Treaty and, thus, to transpose the EC principles of freedom of establishment and freedom to provide services.
Remote gambling operators’ requirements
Until now, the games which are remotely available on the Italian market are the following: fixed odds and tote betting, national and international horse racing, scratch cards, pools and skill games (including poker tournaments). According to official data, in February, the average collection of stakes from these remote gambling products was more than €5 million per day3.
The new provisions will include – within the offer of these products – betting on other events, betting exchanges, bingo, instant and deferred lotteries and national totaliser digital games.
To organise such remote gambling activities, every gambling operator shall first follow general requirements from a financial and structural point of view.
In this purpose, the draft distinguishes between the gambling operator that already holds a concession to offer traditional and/or remote gambling in Italy and the gambling operator willing to enter the market and apply for a new nine-year lasting concession.
In this second case, the concession may only be granted by the competent regulation authority – the Autonomous Administration for State Monopolies (AAMS) – to corporations having registered offices, hardware and software equipment located in a European Economic Area (EEA) Member State. The onerous requirement to locate in Italy the server, together with the software used for organising remote gambling, has thus been definitely abandoned.
The applicant must already be licensed to organise gambling activities in an EEA Member State where it has its registered or operational offices, with a total turnover of at least €1.5 million in the last two financial years. As an alternative, the operator shall provide the AAMS with a first-demand insurance/bank guarantee of such amount.
In any event, the AAMS may threshold the total number of these concessions to 200.
All the gambling operators shall pay to the AAMS a contribution amount – from €50,000 to €350,000 plus VAT – in relation to the costs to be sustained for the administrative and technical management of the monitoring and controlling procedures.
Additionally, every operator shall follow the requirements for the particular type of game it organises. The rules and technicalities of each game will be determined by specific regulations of the AAMS.
As an example, the draft states that until the end of the current concessions, the operation and collection of revenue from remote instant and deferred lotteries and national totaliser digital games will be carried out by the current sole concession holder, in consideration of some specific technical and financial reliability requirements.
Focus on players’ and minors’ protection
The draft lays down several compulsory measures as regards players’ and minors’ protection. This is in compliance with the recent conclusions of the EC Parliament4 concerning the major risk for remote gambling activities of fraud, crime, gambling addiction, dangers to children and threats to the integrity of sports events.
`First of all, the players must be adequately informed about the concession holder and the rules of play and age requirements. Operators must draw players’ attention towards adopting responsible gaming behaviour, must ensure measures that exclude minors from the opportunity of participating in the game and provide a mechanism for self-exclusion.
Each player shall be duly registered and shall enter with the operator a gambling account agreement according to the AAMS. guidelines, which must be compliant to money laundering EC Directives5.
Additionally, every operator shall notify to AAMS each bet, prize won or payment made by the player through its gambling account, in an anonymous form.
Moreover, the draft makes it clear that part of the revenue deriving from the games will be devolved to a special Fund in favour of underprivileged citizens, for gambling addiction prevention and the financing of sports.
Several measures are then provided for the AAMS to exercise continuous and effective control over the activities of the remote gambling operators. The concession may thus be suspended or revoked by the AAMS.
Italian residents are not authorised to gamble on internet websites other than those managed by the concession holders. Both criminal and administrative sanctions are provided towards those organising, collecting and promoting illegal or non authorised remote gambling.
Towards new challenges?
This draft clearly evidences the lawmaker’s ambition to actively speed up the completion of the remote gambling regulations through clear rules, while continuing to combat any illegal form of gambling.
Since the introduction of remote skill games last Autumn 2008, especially with regard to poker tournaments, the Italian market is indeed already offering a great part of the most attractive remote gambling products. But in these very last days, the new political debate has already turned to the introduction and regulation of remote cash games and casino games.
The Italian remote gambling regulation is still a work in progress.
1. Art. 22 par. 11 to 30 ‘Disposizioni per l’adempimento di obblighi derivanti dall’appartenenza dell’Italia alle Comunità europee’ – Legge comunitaria 2008.
2. Law 4 February 2005 no. 11.
3. Latest press release – AAMS website.
4. ‘Schaldemose Report’ (2008/2215)(INI) 17 February.
5. EC Directives 2005/60/CE and 2006/70/CE.