GAMING LEGAL GROUP | ARTICLES
Gaming Legal Group contributes various articles to publishing houses and scientific magazines on a yearly basis. A selection of published articles can be found below.
Dead on Arrival
The Dutch are preparing to launch their market for online gaming. It is not a pretty picture.
Bas Jongmans
Gaming Legal Group
According to the plans of the Netherlands government, new legislation that should allow online gambling in the Netherlands, should enter into force in July, 2021. This timeline is not realistic. Predictions for the future are bleak.
Curaçao iGaming Licenses
Fact & Fiction
Bas Jongmans & Frederik van Eijk
Gaming Legal Group
Setting up your iGaming venture under a Curaçao iGaming license could provide online entrepreneurs with the best of both worlds. It is flexible and profitable. Without sufficient experience, however, the adventure might turn into a commercial nightmare. Some critics say that the Curaçao i License is not even legal. Bas Jongmans, attorney at law (GLG Litigation) and Frederik van Eijk, consultant (GLG Compliance) provide clarity on what is fact and what is fiction.
AI and the Evolution of Payment Services
Bas Jongmans & Xavier Rico
Gaming Legal Group
Gaming Legal Group’s Bas Jongmans, attorney at law and Xavier Rico, forensic consultant discuss the current worldwide trends of payment services from an industry perspective, as well as the developing regulatory principles.
Global Regulatory Trends Update on Payment Services & Gaming
Bas Jongmans & Xavier Rico
Gaming Legal Group
Gaming Legal Group’s Bas Jongmans, attorney at law and Xavier Rico, forensic consultant, discuss challenges that payment service providers are facing in modern times, as well as the legal position of those catering to the gaming industry. Will future technology bring additional risk to an already ‘edgy’ market or will payment service providers be able to further mitigate liabilities?
A ‘cliffhanger’: Caribbean
corporate service providers
prepare for OECD’s lasting impact on the Curaçao gaming regime
Bas Jongmans & Frederik van Eijk
Gaming Legal Group
In the July 2018 edition of Online Gambling Lawyer, Bas Jongmans, and Frederik van Eijk provided their analysis on the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (‘OECD’)-inspired changes in legislation on the island of Curaçao within the Dutch Caribbean, which heavily impact corporate service providers. With the transitional period already winding down, market participants are scrambling to make the necessary arrangements, providing them with a ‘clifhanger’ situation. Following up on their first article, here the authors take a more in-depth look at how things came to pass, and discuss how the local community is coping.
Forcing the regulator’s hand on binary options in the Netherlands
Bas Jongmans
Gaming Legal Group
A recent Dutch Administrative Appeals Court ruling has resulted in the confirmation that the Dutch financial watchdog shall regulate games of chance involving binary options in the Netherlands. Bas Jongmans and Hester Bais - the Dutch lawyers acting for binary options provider Optionclub in the proceedings - discuss the complex situation in regards to binary options in the Netherlands and the need for the financial watchdog to begin actively regulating the market and taking action against illegal operators.
The OECD’s impact on the Curaçao gaming regime:
A storm is coming
Bas Jongmans & Frederik van Eijk
Gaming Legal Group
The Government of Curaçao, an island situated within the southern Caribbean Sea, also referred to as the ‘Dutch Caribbean,’ just off the north coast of Venezuela, has moved to implement Base Erosion and Profit Shifting (‘BEPS’) principles defined by the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (‘OECD’) coupled with transparency provisions coming out of Europe’s Fourth Anti-Money Laundering Directive. Although arrival of such changes was imminent and marks a healthy step forward, local service providers that cater to the Curaçao offshore gaming industry, highly favored by gaming operators worldwide, might have a hard time adapting to the regulatory winds of change.
Lotto monopoly revisited in the Netherlands
Bas Jongmans
Gaming Legal Group
On 2 May 2018, the Administrative Jurisdiction Division of the Netherlands Council of State (the ‘Council’) ruled that the Netherlands Gaming Authority (“NGA”) has not explained in a sufficient manner why lotto games should remain subject to a monopoly. The NGA has been ordered to revisit its decision. Bas Jongmans, Gaming Attorney at Gaming Legal Group discusses the potential impact of this ruling for the gaming industry.
Malta:
The Skill-based Exemption for Fantasy Sports
Bas Jongmans
Gaming Legal Group
Malta has taken the step to differentiate between fantasy sports - which are deemed a game of skill - from games of chance, by providing an exemption for fantasy sports games under the Maltese gambling regime in order for them to benefit from ‘light touch’ regulation. The proposal has been sent to the European Commission for approval. Bas Jongmans, Gaming Attorney at Gaming Legal Group, sheds light on the exemption of pure games of skill under Maltese gambling law and the ambiguities inherent in effectively qualifying a pure game of skill, which could mean the proposed regime is ineffective.