Introduction
There is no specific and uniform legislation in EU governing the field of gambling services. EU member states are autonomous and free to regulate on their gambling services, as long as they comply with the fundamental freedoms and general provisions as established under the Treaty on the Functioning of the European Union (TFEU). Most EU countries allow at least some games to be offered online. Some countries allow all games, while others only allow certain types such as betting, poker or casino games. In some European jurisdictions, monopolistic regimes offering online gambling services have been established. These are run by a state-controlled public operator or by a private operator on the basis of an exclusive right. Laws in several countries
Cyprus
In 2012, Cyprus introduced the Betting Law 2012, as amended in 2019 (the ” Law ”), which regulates the betting activities. The Law clarified the legislative framework in relation to these activities as well as filled some gaps which were missing from the Cyprus legislation. Gambling is owned and operated by the state only to a limited extent, while private entities are permitted to offer gambling activities subject to the provisions of the Law.
The following betting services are strictly prohibited in Cyprus either in land-based premises or via online platforms: Betting on horse races;
Limited betting games machines;
Spread betting;
Dog racing; and
Bitcoin gambling. The National Betting Authority (the ” NBA ”) is the supervisory authority of all the gambling activities in Cyprus. The responsibilities of the NBA include examining applications, licensing, auditing and supervising betting shops and online betting operators as well as examining any complaints and suspending any licenses in relation to those.There are two forms of license available under the Law: The Class A license, which regulates land betting services within physical licensed premises, excluding Class B services (online) and horseracing; and The Class B license, which regulates online betting services excluding slot machines, online casinos and lotteries. Therefore, Class A license is about land based casinos while Class B license is exclusively about online activities. Licenses are issued for one or […]
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