Newsletter 18

28 Nov 2014

Regarding the consultation on the requirements for the annual account 2014

Annual account for 2014

After the first year of providing gambling holders of a licence to betting or online casino shall send a report to the Danish Gambling Authority. The following years, however, they shall publish an annual account including:

The enterprise's key figures and

  • A report on how the licence holder has complied with the legislative requirements.
  • The publication must only relate to the provision of gambling in the Danish market in 2014 unless otherwise stated below. The publication must give a true picture of the gambling provision.

Below the requirements for the annual account for 2014 are reviewed. If you have any comments regarding the requirements, you have the option to send us the comments in writing via the contact form on our website. We welcome any comments until 19 December 2014. We will after this deadline publish a final version of the requirements.

When shall you publish?

The publication must be made two months after the closing of the financial year. As rules for the financial year might be different from country to country, the regulation must be interpreted in the way that the annual account must relate to the period from 1 January to 31 December for all licence holders.

All licence holders who have been authorized for the period from 1 January 2014 to 31 December 2014 shall therefore publish the annual account by 28 February 2015.

Publication of key figures

The publication must contain the following:

  • The number of games provided at the end of the year divided into category of game.
  • A comparison of the theoretical and the actual pay out per game and per category of game.
  • Amounts, which have been withheld from players because of temporary gambling accounts, where the identity of the player has not been finally verified.
  • The number of complaints received from players (the definition of a complaint is when a player does not agree with the company's case procedure or its outcome).
  • The average processing time for complaints.
  • Amount on the setoff-free account the 31.12.2014.
  • Percentage of all players who each quarter (1/1-14 1/4-14, 1/7-14, 1/10-14) have 
    • Fixed a deposit limit 
      • Daily
      • Weekly
      • Monthly
    • Have a temporary exclusion by the gambling operator
  • Number of notifications to SØIK in 2014.
  • Number of suspicious transactions contained in notifications to SØIK
  • Distribution key of marketing in percentage of the marketing budget.
    • TV
    • Printed media
    • Radio
    • Internet
    • Own website
    • Other
  • Total deposits in DKK in welcome bonus where the player e.g. receives 100 DKK (after the first turnover).
  • Total deposits in DKK in bonuses for existing players, where the player e.g. receives 50 DKK (after the first turnover).
  • Total payouts in DKK where the licence holders offer free bets and deduct payments from winning (typically called free bets).
  • Total repayments in DKK where the licence holder reimburse the player's bet when the bet is lost (typically called risk-free games).

The gambling categories are:

Online casino

  • Roulette
  • Baccarat
  • Punto banco
  • Black jack
  • Gaming machines
  • Poker
  • Combination games

Betting

  • Fixed odds betting
  • Pool betting
  • Electronically simulated sports games.

Requirements for the annual account

The annual account must as a minimum contain:

  • A management report.
    • The management report must include information on the enterprise’s main activities and developments herein, as well as provide a description of significant factors that have affected or likely will affect the enterprise. If the enterprise is a part of a business group, the uncertainties imposed respectively of the enterprise and the group must be described. Furthermore information on the major events, such as campaigns, changes in the gambling provision or gambling platforms including other major initiatives, etc., as well as the expectation for the new year must be contained in the management report.
  • Responsible gambling measures, in particular
    • measures to ensure that no marketing is sent to players who are excluded from gambling, and
    • responsible gambling initiatives that are not imposed by the executive orders.
  • Combating money laundering and terrorist financing (online casino).
  • Measures to reduce the risk of match fixing (betting - if you provide land-based betting it must be stated specifically).
  • How to prevent sales to young people under the age of 18 in the provision of land-based betting including description on the education of dealers and employees, as well as how many cases the gambling operator has recorded of betting sales to young people under the age of 18. If there has been recorded sales to young people under the age of 18, the gambling operator must describe how the licence holder is preventing it from happening in the future.
  • Processing of complaints.
  • Approval procedures for marketing initiatives to ensure compliance with § 36 on marketing as well as the  bonus provisions in the executive orders.
  • Detailed description of all measures where the customer is offered free games such as free bingo, registration bonus, risk-free games, etc. including detailed information on the terms of these measures.
  • Detailed description of other measures such as VIP programs.

If regulatory requirements are described, it must be described how the requirement is met. That is e.g. the procedures that are implemented to ensure compliance with the requirement.

If you find a lack of compliance with the requirements, you must describe how it is ensured that compliance is ensured in the future.

Other information

Furthermore you can publish other figures which might be of public interest. In the assessment of which figures you are publishing you must include which figures might be of public interest, such as professional organisations, treatment centers, sports organisations etc. This could be e.g. the number of players, age composition, spending per player etc.

Formal requirements

The annual account must be written in well-written Danish.

The annual account must be signed by a person authorised to sign for the enterprise. This person must with his signature declare that the annual account gives a true account of the circumstances mentioned in the account.

For companies which are not established in this country or in another EU/EEA country, the annual account must also be signed by the Danish representative.

It is not a requirement that the annual account is elaborated in cooperation with an approved enterprise.

Where shall the publication take place?

The publication must be made on the domains where you have a license to provide gambling. The account must be immediately available for a minimum of 5 years. The annual account shall be placed on the part of the domain that contains basic information about the license holder.

When your publication has taken place you must send information to the Danish Gambling Authority about where you have published the annual account. The information must include documentation for who is authorized to sign on behalf of the license holder.

Provision of games in Greenland

If you have a license to provide gambling in Greenland, the annual account must also cover this provision of gambling.

Especially on income restricted licences

Holders of these licences are not covered by the requirement to publish an annual account.

Laws and regulations

You can find the regulation in the Act on Gambling, section 43 (2), and Act for Greenland on certain games, section 22 (2).