183 Gambling Operators Express Interest in iGaming License in Netherlands as KSA Issues More Penalties

After the deadline for ing operators’ interest in the future regulated online gambling market of Netherlands expired on June 21st, Dutch Gambling Authority, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), have revealed the final amount of international operators that have expressed a desire to be licensed is 183.

KSA has asked local and global gaming companies to their interest for an iGaming license online, so that the entire process of licensing is facilitated. The window for ing this interest lasted from June 7th until 21st .

Rapid Rise in Interest in Short Space of Time

On June 17th, it was reported that 79 operators were eager to get their hands on one of the iGaming licenses in this country…

…only for that number to jump to 125 by June 20th, before 58 more stated their intention just before the deadline expiration date.

Over half of the interested operators – 89 – are foreign brands. 83 of those have already obtained at least one sort of gaming license in other countries. The remaining 74 applicants are domestic and/or Dutch land-based gambling market.

Not Everyone Will Get It

Despite this obviously high level of interest…

…the regulator expects that the actual amount of issued licenses will be much lower, because of very rigid due diligence checks and lower financial costs which would reduce the number of approved companies.

The applicants who wish to become licensees…

..will have to pay the €45,000 fee and a €830,000 guarantee in order to get green-lighted to operate in the market. All of their activities will be thoroughly checked for integrity and liability. Operators will need to provide a plethora of documentation and fulfill a high number of conditions, such as coming up with a policy for prevention of addiction, quality assurance processes, measures for identity verifications and more.

Licensing Process in Under Construction

For the tentative launch of the Dutch iGaming market in January 2021…

…the powers-that-be are coming up with a thorough licensing process that follows the full adoption of the Netherlands Remote Gambling Law that made this gambling vertical legal for the first time. Technical regulations are already being worked on, as is the final agreement on the question of banning operators that have breached the country’s still standing prohibition on iGaming. The consensus on this should be reached and brought into effect by July 1st next year.

Penalties Against Wrongdoers

With that said, the KSA was forced to penalize two more operators after The Court of the Hague ruled in favor of fines after a process of appeals that lasted for quite a while – since 2017.

The gambling authority imposed a €270,000 fine against Simbat Entertainment Systems and €100,000 against Spinity. The charges: offering online games of chance and promotion of participation in those, respectively.

Simbat “offered games of chances via at least eleven different websites,” while Spinity was their promotional agent.

Source:

“183 interested in the Netherlands as regulator issues more fines”, casinobeats.com, June 25, 2019.