Western Europe

  The new governing parties in Spain have indicated that they intend to introduce new regulations for gambling, including additional consumer protection measures, stricter restrictions for gambling advertising and a review of taxation for online gambling. While it is too early to predict the specific measures that will be introduced, general policy commitments were outlined…

  The Department for Communities (DfC) in Northern Ireland has launched a public consultation on the new gambling laws. DfC said it is seeking views on “whether changes are now necessary to ensure Northern Ireland has a more flexible and modern licensing framework capable of responding to the many societal and technical changes which have…

  The government of Ireland has approved a new maximum stake and a new maximum payout for gambling machines. Charlie Flanagan, the Minister for Justice in Ireland, has introduced to Cabinet new changes that will see a new maximum stake of €5 for gambling machines. Flanagan’s changes include a new €500 limit as maximum payout…

  The UK Gambling Commission (UKGC) has imposed a fine of £322,000 on online gambling operator Petfre, trading as Betfred, for money laundering failures. An investigation by the Gambling Commission revealed that the operator failed to carry out adequate source of funds checks on a customer who deposited £210,000, and lost £140,000, of stolen money…

  The ASA has banned an ad of the online casino Casumo after it targeted the customers who googled “How to unsubscribe from all gambling.” The ASA said it considered anyone searching “how to unsubscribe from all gambling” was looking for ways to reduce their access to gambling. “We considered such consumers would be likely…

  Advertising Standards Authority (ASA) has sanctioned the online casino brand 32Red for violating gambling advertising code. A Google search ad of 32RED popped up when the term “Jack and the Beanstalk” was in the search bar. This raised concern that gambling ads are targeting children and minors. The gambling operator said that it was…