Month: July 2021

Although the regulator blocked 281 domain names – owned by 125 different unlicensed gambling brands – it rarely announces individual blocking orders. 

However, it said it made an exception for these two recent cases due to the popularity of the two sites. In June 2021, the two sites received approximately 560,000 visits from France.

“The ANJ wishes to draw the public’s attention to the dangerousness of these illegal sites which record particularly high audiences,” it said. “This is the reason why we decided, for the first time, to promote these judgments.”

Internet service providers were ordered to block access to Cbet and a “mirror site” that also redirected to Cbet following a court judgement in May from the Paris Court of Justice.

The regulator noted that the site offered games that were not authorised in France, where only poker, sports betting and lotteries are permitted.

Earlier this month, the ANJ received approval to block cryptocurrency betting site and casino Stake.com from the Judicial Tribunal of Paris. The regulator noted that gambling with cryptocurrency is also not permitted in France, due to concerns about fraud, money laundering and the financing of terrorism.

The ANJ said that blocking a website is the final part of a four-step process when unlicensed activity is suspected. First, ANJ agents create a report about the site, then it sends a formal notice to the operator ordering it to block access to French customers. If this fails, the case it referred to the courts, which may then issue a blocking order.

“Online casino sites are prohibited in France,” the ANJ said. “They represent significant risks of addiction and do not offer any measures to protect players and their personal data. There is also no recourse in the event of non-payment of winnings. 

“The fight against illegal supply is at the heart of the regulator’s action and we have made it a priority in 2021.”

France’s regulator last week also announced plans to crack down on marketing activity after complaints of over-saturation during Euro 2020. The regulator issued an “action plan” on the subject, which will include again reviewing operators’ marketing plans, having done this previously at the start of the year. In addition, it will launch a stakeholder consultation at the start of the school year on advertising, which may lead to the launch of new intervention tools. The ANJ will also issue more “precise and operational” guidelines on advertising before the end of the year.

Stake.com recently announced a sponsorship deal with newly promoted Premier League football club Watford FC. The deal comes with Stake planning to launch in the GB market through a partnership with Aspire Global.

The company said it would eliminate its variable interest entity (VIE) structure – a series of subsidiaries that own the lottery business – and dispose of its lottery business for nil consideration.

The lottery business – previously its main focus of operations – contributed RMB2.7m (£302,219/€353,240/$416,545), or 13.6%, of the company’s total revenue, accounting for a net loss of RMB9.8m for the three months ended 31 March, 2021. 

As of that date, total assets held by the VIE subsidiaries represented RMB82.8m, or 6.3% of the company’s total assets, while net debt held by the subsidiaries was RMB161.6m.

Financial results from the business will no longer be included in Bit Mining’s consolidated financial statements.

The company said that due to the expansion of its cryptocurrency mining business outside China, it does not expect disposal to have a material impact on its operational results or financial position.

It said it has achieved positive financial results since December 2020 by pivoting its business to cryptocurrency mining and adopting an overseas development strategy.

The business’ pivot into cryptocurrencies and blockchain technologies – and away from lotteries – is being overseen by Xianfeng Yang, who was brought in as chief executive in January.

Bit Mining expanded its involvement in the cryptocurrency industry in February this year, with its acquisition of Blockchain Alliance Technologies, owner of BTC.com.

BTC.com offers cryptocurrency mining pool services and cryptocurrency wallets, as well as information about cryptocurrencies.

The blocking order means that to date, KRAIL has detected over 1,000 gambling sites and 100 land-based establishments that offered gambling services without holding the relevant licenses.

These activities violate article 203-2 of the Criminal Code of Ukraine.

Today (26 July) three court rulings determined that 594 illegal gambling sites were to be blocked from use in Ukraine. In the investigation of these sites, searches were carried out and gambling machines and computer equipment were seized.

Related information has been entered into Ukraine’s Unified Register of Pre-trial Investigations for evaluation.

In addition, KRAIL called on citizens to send tips regarding illegal gambling practices, such as establishments, to help the regulator with their investigations.

Earlier this month, KRAIL launched a national exclusion system where customers can choose to be banned from gambling between periods of six months and three years.

Last week, Ukraine’s legislature approved a bill to set a 10% tax rate for gambling almost one year after legislation allowed the country’s market to open.

Ismailov was already serving a seven-year ban after a previous conviction but will now face a lifetime ban from the sport and was fined an additional $14,000 (£10,190/€11,889), while Sultanbekov has been banned for five years and fined $8,000.

The sanctions mean both players are prohibited from playing in or attending tennis events authorised or sanctioned by the governing bodies of tennis.

The ITIA did not go into further detail on the case in terms of the tournament where the offences took players, but it did state that both players were found guilty of three breaches of the Tennis Anti-Corruption Program (TACP) rules.

These included D.1.k, where no covered person shall or conspire to solicit or facilitate any other person to contrive, attempt to contrive or conspire to contrive the outcome or any other aspect of an event.

ITIA also referenced D.1.d, which states that no player shall contrive, attempt to contrive or conspire to contrive the outcome or any aspect, of an event.

The third breach was in reference to D.2.a.i, whereby if a player is approached by a party to influence the outcome or any other aspect of an event must report this to the Tennis Integrity Unit at the earliest opportunity.

In addition, Ismailov was found guilty of D.1.e, whereby no player shall, directly or indirectly, solicit, facilitate, or conspire to solicit or facilitate any player to not use their best efforts in any event.

Ismailov had a highest ATP ranking of 397 and Sultanbekov had a highest ATP ranking of 1886.

Under the deal, the length of which was not disclosed, Premier Bet will serve as the official betting partner of AC Milan in Africa.

The partnership will commence with a new multi-media, multi-market advertising campaign to coincide with the launch of the new season.

The 2021-22 Serie A season is due to kick off on 22 August, with AC Milan beginning the new campaign with a match against Sampdoria. 

“Working with this fantastic brand will give us the opportunity to enhance our presence in a key market, such as the African continent,” AC Milan’s chief revenue officer Casper Stylsvig said.

“We are aware of AC Milan’s popularity in the region, which has been built over the years also thanks to some fantastic African players that have played for the club and can’t wait to do more in the region to connect our brand to its African fanbase.”

Christopher Coyne, chief executive of GOAT Interactive, the business behind Premier Bet, added: “As Premier Bet looks to strengthen its position across key markets as well as enter new ones, we want this partnership with AC Milan to help us create brand fame and cut-through, as well as providing their millions of Africa-based fans with new and exciting ways to experience Premier Bet.”

The competition invites students and entrepreneurs to put forward project ideas for the chance to win a €40,000 (£34,208/$47,122) equity-free grant and access to expert advice. Sisal will this year also offer an acceleration path to support female-led start-ups.

For the 2021 competition – the fifth edition of the initiative – candidates have been asked to submit business ideas in two categories.

The first category focuses on ideas for a sustainable future and innovations aimed at solving societal problems that will have a positive long-term impact on the community. The second category is ideas for a technological and digital country and projects that utilise technology to simplify people’s lives.

“Every year I look forward to the opening of applications for Gobeyond, as I firmly believe that support for young people and their ideas is fundamental for the economic and social progress of a country,” Sisal chief executive Francesco Durante said.

“I believe that companies like Sisal should be actively and continually committed to the progress of society. To build a more responsible future, we need to do more to encourage those who are developing innovative ideas to help society.”

The opening of applications comes after Sisal last month announced the launch of its first Innovation Lab with the aim of attracting young digital experts to the business. 

Based at the Agnelli Foundation in Turin, the facility will focus on innovation and developing new ideas within the digital and artificial intelligence spaces and be accessible to universities, research centres and start-ups.

Sisal is one of a number of parties bidding for the fourth National Lottery licence in the UK. The operator has partnered with children’s charity Barnardo’s and telecommunications giant BT on the bid.

The new service, called “Apply for a Personal Licence”, will consolidate applications for personal management licences (PML) and personal functional licences (PFL), alongside Annex A approvals. This, it said, will mean that the licences will be processed quicker.

The service will be supported by an up-to-date processing tool for efficiency.

“I am very pleased that we can continue to automate our licensing services by making it easier to apply but also quicker to process,” said Helen Venn, executive director of the Gambling Commission.

“This new service is a good example of delivering positive outcomes for users through collaboration between our licensing and digital teams.”

The process was created to commit to the Gambling Commission’s promise to improve its regulatory tactics.

Meanwhile, ministers are still considering the review of the 2005 Gambling Act, the results of which should be published by the end of 2021. The review will examine many different areas related to gambling, including the roles and powers of the Commission.

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Go Live Date (expected):	July 27th 2021
Game special features:	Bet Balancer
Number of paylines:	5 win lines per reel set
Number of reels:	Two 5×3 reel sets
RTP% (recorded/theoretical):	95.09%
Variance/volatility:	Medium

Snapchat hopes to give its users more control over the ads they see after working closely with BGC over the last year.

Furthermore, Snapchat has also met the requirements of the updated Industry Code for Socially Responsible Advertising, which was released in 2020. The code obliges BGC members to ensure that all social media ads must be targeted at consumers aged 25 and over, unless a platform proves they can be precisely targeted at over-18s.

BGC chief executive Michael Dugher said: “This is yet more evidence of our commitment to raising standards in the regulated industry. I welcome this move by Snapchat and I would urge all social media and search platforms to provide the ability for users to opt out of viewing betting adverts.

“The regulated betting and gaming industry is determined to promote safer gambling, unlike the unsafe and growing online black market, which has none of the safeguards which are commonplace among BGC members.”

In an attempt to control gambling advertising, BGC released new rules preventing adverts for its members appearing in football clubs’ social media posts earlier this year.

It also urged authorities to create a gambling ombudsman to deal with any customer complaints earlier this month.

Snapchat UK General Manager Ed Couchman added: “It has always been important to us that our community is able to influence the types of adverts they see on Snapchat.

“It’s fantastic to roll this change out and we’re grateful to have partners in the BGC who are doing vital work to ensure this industry continues to grow and evolve with consumers at the heart.”