The French online gambling regulator – ARJEL – has published initial instructions for France-facing online poker operators interested to participate in the shared liquidity project.
The move comes two weeks after the responsible regulatory bodies of France, Italy, Spain, and Portugal signed a cooperation agreement for the creation of an online poker network that will make it possible for poker players to play against their peers from the involved countries.
ARJEL’s instructions, the full text of which can be read here in French, inform interested operators that once they apply to take part in the shared liquidity project, they will be subjected to a thorough investigation. Thus, the regulator wants update itself on the brands’ activities in France and to prove their eligibility to participate.
There are four licensed operators to be servicing French players at present, with those being Winamax, PokerStars, iPoker’s skins, and partypoker. Of all four, Winamax is boasting the largest cash game player pool. According to PokerScout, there are 624 cash players on the website at the time this article is produced.
The French operator announced earlier this year that it was hiring Spanish-, Portuguese-, and Italian-speaking staff, which was a good signal that it was interested in expanding its footprint to the countries that eventually entered the shared liquidity agreement.
PokerStars is probably the other operator that will seek to take part in the shared liquidity project. It holds licenses in all four countries and is likely to be the online poker brand to benefit the most from a combined player pool.
Under ARJEL’s recently published instructions, the regulator will announce on its website whether a shared liquidity applicant is approved or not. Approved operators will have to ensure that their operations are compliant with the rules set in all of the jurisdictions where they will be provided. Contracts will thus be signed with their respective regulatory bodies.
The shared liquidity project has been under development for several years now, but it was only last year when the first actual and significant steps were made. The French government allowed ARJEL to begin the process of looking for interested jurisdictions. The regulatory body was later on joined by its counterparts from Italy, Spain, and Portugal.
The first shared online poker agreement was signed on July 6. However, regulators have warned that it will take another half a year before the network is created and operational. Other countries have expressed interest in the project, Germany and Austria being among them, and are expected to join the process later on.
