Location of the gambling system
In this newsletter of 28 November 2011 you will find rules for the location of the gambling systems, the issue of licences, provision of land based betting etc.
Requirements for the location of the gambling system
New draft executive orders about
- online casino,
- online betting, and
- land based betting
have been sent for notification at the European Commission on September 28, 2011. Then there is a stand still period until December 29, 2011.
The reason for the notification was among other things that the Danish Gambling Authority changed the rules concerning the location of the gambling system.
According to the rules the gambling system can be located
- in Denmark and/or
- the Danish Gambling Authority may approve that
- the gambling system is located in another country where a public authority supervises the licence holder's provision of gambling activities and that supervising authority has an agreement with the Danish Gambling Authority about the supervision of the licence holder's provision of gambling activities in Denmark, or
- the gambling system is located in another country if the licence holder can give the Danish Gambling Authority access to perform an adequate control of the gambling system by the means of remote access or similar.Â
In practise this means that
- gambling operators with a licence in a country with a bilateral agreement may locate the gambling system according to what has been agreed with the supervising authority in that country because the authority has ensured the Danish Gambling Authority that an adequate control of the gambling system can be made,
- gambling operators without a licence in a country with a bilateral agreement may locate all of part of the gambling system outside Denmark if they can give the Danish Gambling Authority access to make an adequate control of the gambling system, and
- gambling operators established in Denmark may locate all or part of the gambling system in another country as long as they can give the Danish Gambling Authority access to perform an adequate control of the gambling system by the means of remote access or similar.
It will continously be published here which countries have a bilateral agreement with the Danish Gambling Authority.
What is an adequate control of the gambling system?
If the gambling system is located as mentioned in item 2 and 3 the licence holder must give the Danish Gambling Authority access to make an adequate control of the gambling system by means of remote access or similar.
In pracise this means that a licence holder will be called for a control at the Danish Gambling Authority with a deadline of 5 days as a rule. By agreement the control may be made at another place in Denmark. It will appear from the notice if the control concerns specific items, e.g. how gambling activities generate standard records in the gambling system, or if it is a general control of the gambling system.
At the control the licence holder must be represented by persons with a knowledge and access to the gambling system and related systems including SAFE which the Danish Gambling Authority wants to control.
The issue of licences
The Danish Gambling Authority will by mid December issue licences to those gambling operators who may enter the gambling market on January 1, 2012. A number of conditions may be attached to the licences. There is an example of the conditions, but only in Danish. In that connection you must be aware that there may be conditions to RNG. Applicants who think that they are not able to comply with some of the conditions should inform the Danish Gambling Authority as soon as possible.
Gambling operators who get a licence by mid December must register with SKAT for gambling duty before the provision of gambling activities. You must use form 29.063 for registration. You will find the form below (only available in Danish). After registration you may provide gambling activities from January 1, 2012.
Provision of land based betting
Before a licence holder provide land based betting it must be approved by the Danish Gambling Authority. Future licence holders who have not ticked off item 3 of Annex B concerning land based betting may not provide land based betting. If you wish to provide betting in that way you must contact your technical contact person in the Danish Gambling Authority before the provision of gambling activities begins.
The installation of betting terminals and similar may only take place in shops which have a manager who has been authorized by the Danish Gambling Authority.
Some gambling operators want to install self-serve terminals. The Danish Gambling Authority will inform about the rules for installation of such terminals before long.
Certifications and executive orders
It is well-known in the business that the Danish Gambling Authority has postponed the requirement of certification of the gambling system et al. Regardless that the requirements have been postponed, gambling operators must provide gambling activities in accordance with the requirements which appear from the executive orders e.g. the requirement about identification of players and the determination of payment limits.