News

Monday, 10 August 2009 06:08

With the continued pressure from the central European Union administration in Brussels, the several member states who have so far managed to resist the implementation of clear cut online casino laws are beginning to fall into line.

Spain is the latest EU member to prepare to open its doors to the legalisation of online gambling. With an already healthy industry operating in the shadows generating an estimated $50 million in bets each year, it comes not a moment too soon for the eagerly awaiting treasury coffers.

For the last two years, the Spanish government has been looking into the best ways in which to comply with the current EU regulations concerning free trade between member states and how that transposes to the online gambling industry as it currently operates within its borders. At last, ministers appear set to create a working framework for the regulation and licensing of online gambling operators and their websites.

Negotiations are rumoured to already be underway with William Hill, the sports bookmakers and online gambling operators Bet Bull/Bwin. Representatives from the gambling industry and the Spanish government have set up two working groups to come up with a workable strategy for the introduction and maintenance of a regulated industry. Spanish licenses will be issued lasting five years with the provision for an additional five year extension as long as the regulations have been met and adhered to during the previous five year period.

Those regulations are set to include certain safeguards that will protect underage or vulnerable groups from gambling online. It is likely a similar situation will occur to that when the Italian government recently created regulations for the industry, where license applications flooded in from some of the largest UK and European online gambling operators.

Already there is a lot of interest generated over the proposals to open the Spanish market to legalised online gambling. In the capital, Madrid, a large conference event dubbed “iGB Espana” is being organised for October 2009. This is expected to clarify all the market's requirements of both a technical and operational nature that will help the industry to successfully operate in Spain. It will also go some way to identifying business partnerships and any business opportunities that will come of it.

Spain's legalisation and regulation of their gambling sector will undoubtedly prove to be a lucrative move for the government, just as has happened in the UK and Italy since they moved to regulate the industry internally. The regulations will protect Spanish citizens from unscrupulous rogue gambling operators who would exploit the vulnerable and enable the issue of tough punishments for anyone caught operating without a proper license. This move is seen as a potential win-win policy from which all sides will benefit.