One of the biggest online casinos in the United Kingdom – Ladbrokes, is withdrawing its business activities from a number of European grey markets. Grey markets are those markets where online gambling, and gambling as a whole have no clear regulative limits and boundaries, therefore it is not illegal to operate an online gambling site.
This, on the other hand, gives international operators the opportunity to establish their websites, but the local legislation is so abstract and vague that businesses can surpass it easily, or at least up until now.
More and more European countries implement government control over gambling websites which operates under its legislation.
The latest markets that Ladbrokes left are those of Switzerland, Hungary and Norway. Citizens or players of those countries can no longer play or wager through Ladbrokes websites. Ladbrokes representatives explained to eGaming Review that the recent withdrawals were the result of “regular legal reviews.”
Ladbrokes has already stopped providing its services for the Canadian market. On the 23rd of September it sent an e-mail to all its Canadian users informing them that they will no longer be able to use the Ladbrokes platforms.
Ladbroke was put on the first Hungarian blacklist for online gambling sites, which is considered to be the main reason for the company to cease its operations there. Hungary is also developing a new framework with major changes and additions to its online and offline gambling legislation. What the new legislation will be, is not yet clear. Operators are eager to know whether international websites will be able to receive licenses or the state will have full control over the gambling industry.
The situation with Switzerland is very similar. The government is aware that there is a number of international operators, which have already created a fan base in Switzerland and citizens of the country use their websites. The Swiss Casino Association hopes that the new gambling legislation will impose better control over unlicensed operators. Earlier this year, the association strongly advised the government to take actions towards creating a clear legislation in order to protect both its citizens and its economy.
As to Norway, the Norwegian Gambling Authority – Lotteritilsynet – issued a federal notice to a few international online gambling operators, which are advertising their websites to Norwegians without the approval of the government.
Ladbrokes’ exit of the three countries mentioned above is also prompted by the upcoming new UK Point of Consumption tax which will be implemented from the 1st of November 2014. Ladbrokes, as well as other UK-based operators which also serve international markets, were asked to provide financial reports of their earnings if their international activities provide more than 3% of their overall income.
Ladbrokes stated that it planned to obey the UK laws, and that is why it has withdrawn from a few grey markets. It plans to renew its licenses after the new tax is implemented.
