Gambling 2020 a Practical Cross-Border Insight Into Gambling Law

International Comparative Legal Guides

Gambling 2020 A practical cross-border insight into gambling law

Sixth Edition

Featuring contributions from:

Appleby (Isle of Man) LLC Hassans International Law Firm Miller Thomson LLP Balch & Bingham LLP Herzog Fox & Neeman Law Office Mishcon de Reya LLP Ballard Spahr LLP Ince MME Legal | Tax | Compliance Brækhus Advokatfirma DA Kalff Katz & Franssen Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu Brandl & Talos Attorneys at Law KGA Avocats National Betting Authority of Cyprus Butler Snow LLP Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enríquez, S.C. LenziAdvocacia / BetConsult Nishith Desai Associates Dean Mead Attorneys at Law Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP Nordic Gambling DLA Piper Hungary LOYRA Abogados Rato, Ling, Lei & Cortés – Advogados e Notários Faegre Baker Daniels Luiz Gomes & Associados, Sociedade de Sbordini & Partners Gabnys Law Firm Advogados, SP, RL Senet Legal Pty Ltd Gaming Legal Group Matheson Sirius Legal Greenberg Traurig, LLP Mazanti-Andersen Korsø Jensen Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP Advokatpartnerselskab GTG Advocates in collaboration with Afilexion WH Partners Melchers Law Firm Alliance Wiggin LLP

ICLG.com Gambling 2020 ISBN 978-1-83918-011-8 ISSN 2056-4341 Sixth Edition

Published by glg global legal group 59 Tanner Street Contributing Editor: London SE1 3PL United Kingdom Jason Chess +44 207 367 0720 Wiggin LLP www.iclg.com

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Disclaimer This publication is for general information purposes only. It does not purport to provide comprehensive full legal or other advice. Global Legal Group Ltd. and the contributors accept no responsibility for losses that may arise from reliance upon information contained in this publication. This publication is intended to give an indication of legal issues upon which you may need advice. Full legal advice should be taken from a qualiﬁed professional when dealing with speciﬁc situations. Table of Contents

Introductory Chapter

1 Shaping the Future of Gaming Law Jamie Nettleton & Marc Ellinger, International Masters of Gaming Law

Expert Chapters

3 The U.S. Government’s Appeal Leaves the Scope of the Wire Act in Doubt Mark Hichar & Erica L. Okerberg, Greenberg Traurig, LLP

7 A Global Overview on the Evolution of Payment Services Bas Jongmans & Xavier Rico, Gaming Legal Group vs 11 Globalisation . AML Regulation in the Gambling Industry Andrew Tait & Michelle Walsh, Ince

16 Cyber Security in the Remote Gambling Industry Nick Nocton, Joe Hancock, Mike Owen & Mark Tibbs, Mishcon de Reya LLP

Q&A Chapters India 21 Australia 101 Senet Legal Pty Ltd: Julian Hoskins & Anne Tucker Nishith Desai Associates: Gowree Gokhale, Ranjana Adhikari, Tanisha Khanna & Inika Serah Charles 30 Austria Brandl & Talos Attorneys at Law: Thomas Talos & Nicholas 111 Ireland Aquilina Matheson: Chris Bollard, Deirdre Kilroy & Matthew Broadstock 36 Belgium Sirius Legal: Bart Van den Brande 117 Isle of Man Appleby (Isle of Man) LLC: Claire Milne & Sophie Corkish 41 Brazil LenziAdvocacia / BetConsult: Edgar Lenzi & Marcelo 124 Israel Munhoz da Rocha Herzog Fox & Neeman Law Ofﬁce: Liran Barak Italy 47 Canada 129 Miller Thomson LLP: Danielle Bush Sbordoni & Partners: Stefano Sbordoni Japan 54 Cyprus 135 National Betting Authority of Cyprus: Filippos Kamenos Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu: Masayuki Fukuda & Spyros Tsakonitis 141 Lithuania Gabnys Law Firm: Andrius Gabnys 59 Denmark Mazanti-Andersen Korsø Jensen Advokatpartnerselskab: Macau Nina Henningsen 146 Rato, Ling, Lei & Cortés – Advogados e Notários: Pedro Cortés & Óscar Alberto Madureira 66 Estonia Gabnys Law Firm: Andrius Gabnys 152 Malta GTG Advocates in collaboration with Aﬁlexion Alliance: 71 France KGA Avocats: Laurent Badiane & Matthieu Bourgeois Reuben Portanier & Dr. Terence Cassar

76 Germany 157 Mexico Melchers Law Firm: Dr. Joerg Hofmann, Dr. Matthias Creel, García-Cuéllar, Aiza y Enríquez, S.C.: Begoña Spitz & Jessica Maier, LL.M Cancino & Sofía Castañón

84 Gibraltar 162 Netherlands Hassans International Law Firm: Andrew Montegriffo & Kalff Katz & Franssen: Dr. Alan Littler & Erik van Hoorn Louise Lugaro 169 Norway 90 Greece Brækhus Advokatﬁrma DA: Brede A. Haglund & Alexander Kyriakides Georgopoulos Law Firm: John C. Kyriakides & Mollan John Broupis 176 Poland 95 Hungary WH Partners: Ewa Lejman-Widz & Kamila Spalińska DLA Piper Hungary: Viktor Radics, Attila Jákói, Dániel Élő Portugal & András Nemescsói 182 Luiz Gomes & Associados, Sociedade de Advogados, SP, RL: Gonçalo Afonso Proença Table of ContentsXX

188 Romania 224 USA – Illinois Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen: Alina Tace Taft Stettinius & Hollister LLP: Paul T. Jenson & Erin (formerly Dumitru) & Lucian Barbu Lynch Cordier Spain USA – Indiana 196XX 231 LOYRA Abogados: Patricia Lalanda Ordóñez & Fernando Faegre Baker Daniels: Elizabeth K. Cierzniak & Mindy A. Martín Martín Westrick

203 Sweden 237 USA – Iowa Nordic Gambling: Maria McDonald Butler Snow LLP: Sean McGuinness

210 Switzerland 241 USA – Mississippi MME Legal | Tax | Compliance: Dr. Andreas Glarner & Dr. Balch & Bingham LLP: Scott E. Andress Alexandra Körner 246 USA – Nevada 215 United Kingdom Lewis Roca Rothgerber Christie LLP: Karl F. Rutledge & Wiggin LLP: Jason Chess & Chris Elliott Glenn J. Light USA – Florida USA – Pennsylvania 220 252 Dean Mead Attorneys at Law: Marc W. Dunbar & Daniel R. Ballard Spahr LLP: Michael D. Fabius & Adrian R. King, Jr. Russell 188 Chapter 33

Romania Romania

Alina Tace (formerly Dumitru)

Nestor Nestor Diculescu Kingston Petersen Lucian Barbu

1 Relevant Authorities and Legislation Relevant Product Who Who regulates it regulates 1.1 Which entities regulate what type of gambling and in digital it in land- social/skill gaming activity in your jurisdiction? form? based form?

“Social” gaming Not qualified as a game of Relevant Product Who Who with no prize in chance, since it lacks one of regulates it regulates money or money’s the mandatory elements in digital it in land- worth provided under Romanian form? based form? Social/ Skill regulation – a monetary prize. Casino gaming National Gambling Office. arrange- Skill games and Not qualified as a game of (including slots ments competitions with chance, since it lacks one of the and casino table no element of mandatory elements provided games such as chance under the Romanian regulation roulette & Gaming – chance/randomness. blackjack)

Poker National Gambling Office. 1.2 Specify: (i) the law and regulation that applies to the Bingo National Gambling Office. Relevant Products in your jurisdiction; and (ii) – in broad terms – whether it permits or prohibits the offer of Relevant Betting National Gambling Office. Products to persons located in your jurisdiction. Sports/horse race Not regulated separately, but betting (if falls under the general category The Romanian legislation which impacts upon gambling activities regulated of betting. comprises the following main normative acts: separately to (i) Government Emergency Ordinance no. 77/2009 on the organ- other forms of isation and operation of games of chance (“GEO no. betting) 77/2009”); (ii) Government Decision no. 111/2016 for the approval of the Betting Fantasy betting Not specifically regulated Methodological Norms for implementation of GEO no. (payment to back under Romanian gambling 77/2009 (the “Secondary Legislation”); a ‘league’ or legislation. Depending on its (iii) Government Emergency Ordinance no. 20/2013 on the organ- ‘portfolio’ characteristics, it may be isation and functioning of the National Gambling Office and selection over a qualified by the National for the modification and supplementation of GEO no. period of time, Gambling Office within the 77/2009; for example in category of “other types of (iv) Government Decision no. 298/2013 on the organisation and relation to sport games of chance”. functioning of the National Gambling Office; or shares) (v) Law no. 227/2015 regarding the Fiscal Code (“Romanian Fiscal Code”); Lotteries National Gambling Office. (vi) Law no. 207/2015 on the Fiscal Procedure Code; Lottery gambling is under the Lotteries (vii) Order issued by the President of the National Gambling Office monopoly of the Romanian no. 47/2016 for the approval of content, reports and access to state. information transmitted by remote gambling operators to the National Gambling Office; (viii) Order issued by the President of the National Gambling Office no. 48/2016 for the approval of the procedure for fulfilling the conditions for connecting land-based slot machines and betting-type games of chance;

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(ix) Order issued by the President of the National Gambling Office licence to organise games of chance, as well as (ii) one or several no. 93/2016 for the approval of the mandatory requirements authorisations to operate games of chance. for certification and audit of the remote gambling systems; In addition to business-to-consumer (“B2C”) operators, which are (x) Order issued by the President of the National Gambling Office required to obtain the Class 1 licence and related authorisation(s), no. 89/2018 regarding the unitary interpretation of the Romanian regulation also imposes the licensing requirement on busi- provisions of point 7 of the Annex to the Order no. 48/2016 ness-to-business (“B2B”) providers specialised in the gambling for the approval of the procedure for fulfilling the conditions industry which supply products/services to licensed B2C operators. for connecting land-based slot machines and betting-type Such providers are required to obtain a Class 2 licence granted by games of chance; the National Gambling Office. (xi) Order issued by the President of the National Gambling Office The categories of B2B suppliers for which the National Gambling no. 179/2018 regarding the approval of the model of monthly Office has issued Class 2 licences are the following: declaration as a standard form for the revenues realised by the ■ manufacturers, distributors as well as other entities performing gambling operators which carry out gambling activities activities with gaming means or gaming components (note: this according to art. 10 para. (1) of GEO no. 77/2009; type of Class 2 licence is relevant for the land-based sector); (xii) Government Emergency Ordinance no. 114/2018 on the ■ software providers; establishment of measures in the field of public investments ■ providers of platform management and hosting services; and fiscal-budgetary measures, for the modification and ■ providers of live casino streaming services; completion of certain normative acts and for the extension of ■ certification laboratories, auditors and conformity assessment certain deadlines (“GEO no. 114/2018”); bodies; (xiii) Order issued by the President of the National Gambling Office no. 35/2019 for the approval of the model of Notification – ■ payment processors; and execution title and the Procedure regarding the notification of ■ marketing affiliates. the economic operators – licensed gambling organisers with The list of licensed B2C online operators may be accessed at the respect to the annual contribution stipulated in art. 10 para. (4) following link from the regulator’s website – http://onjn.gov.ro/ of GEO no. 77/2009; approved/ – while B2B providers holding a Class 2 licence are listed (xiv) Order issued by the President of the National Gambling Office here: http://onjn.gov.ro/lista-licentiati-clasa-a-ii-a/. no. 38/2019 for the approval of the method of calculation of As regards lottery gambling, GEO no. 77/2009 expressly sets forth the monthly tax provided by art. 53 of GEO no. 114/2018, and that the organisation and operation of lottery games, whether as land- for the modification of annex no. 8 to the Order no. 179/2018 based or online/digital activity, fall under the monopoly of state issued by the President of the National Gambling Office; company “Loteria Romana” which, by law, is granted the necessary (xv) Law no. 129/2019 for preventing and combatting money licence (i.e. Class 3 licence) to offer lottery gambling in Romania. laundering and terrorist financing, as well as for modifying and completing normative acts; and 2.2 Where Licences are available, please outline the (xvi) Decision issued by the National Audiovisual Council no. 614 structure of the relevant licensing regime. of 11 June 2019 for amending and completing Decision no. 220/2011 regarding the Code of regulation of the audiovisual content. In line with the regulation, B2C operators are required to hold both As a matter of principle, the Romanian regulation permits the a Class 1 licence as well as one or several authorisations in order to offering of any of the Relevant Products on the Romanian market, offer gambling services in Romania. As regards online operations, both in land-based and digital/online forms, provided that the the Secondary Legislation sets forth that authorisation is granted for necessary licences and authorisation(s) are obtained by the operator the entire activity conducted on the same gambling platform, which intending to offer the respective Relevant Product. may be connected to one or several Internet domain names. As regards the social/skill games referenced under question 1.1, Another particularity for online gambling is that, pursuant to GEO these sorts of product are not expressly regulated under the no. 77/2009, the online casino licence includes online poker as well Romanian gambling legislation and should not normally be qualified as online slot-machine gambling, so an operator holding the online as games of chance. Thus, in accordance with GEO no. 77/2009, casino licence may also offer online poker and online slots on its a game of chance is defined as a product which cumulatively meets Romania-designed platform. the following characteristics: (i) the charging of a participation fee; The licensing and authorisation regime for land-based gambling (ii) the game being based on the random selection of results; (iii) varies by reference to the type of activity for which each of these monetary winnings; and (iv) public offering of the respective game permits is granted. For example, in case of land-based slot-machine by the organiser to the participants. gambling, authorisation is granted for each gaming machine (the Therefore, any game that lacks one (or several) of the mandatory regulation also imposes a minimum of 75 machines to be operated elements provided by the legal definition should not be qualified as by the same organiser, under the penalty of having all authorisations a game of chance and, in principle, should not be permitted in as well as the licence withdrawn); while for land-based poker clubs Romania without obtaining the licences and authorisation(s) or land-based casinos, authorisation is granted for the location where imposed by the gambling regulation. the respective operations are conducted.

2 Application for a Licence and Licence 2.3 What is the process of applying for a Licence for a Relevant Product? Restrictions The Class 1 licensing and authorisation process may be considered 2.1 What regulatory licences, permits, authorisations or generally straightforward. With the exception of land-based casinos, other ofﬁcial approvals (collectively, “Licences”) are required poker clubs and bingo operations, the legislation regulates a closed- for the lawful offer of the Relevant Products to persons box procedure, all regulatory approvals being granted based located in your jurisdiction? exclusively on documents submitted for the analysis of the National Gambling Office, without the applicant or its representative(s) being present in front of the regulator for the hearing when the application In order to lawfully offer the Relevant Products in Romania, a is analysed and voted on. In the case of land-based casinos, poker gambling operator must apply for and obtain both (i) a Class 1 clubs or bingo gambling (as well as for the Class 2 licence application

by providers of casino streaming services), the regulation sets forth periods in the case that, at least 30 days in advance of the expiration that in order for the licensing documentation to be put forward for date, the licence holder proves that the conditions taken into the approval of the regulator, a team formed of representatives of consideration at the moment of the initial licence/authorisation the National Gambling Office and Ministry of Internal Affairs shall continue to be observed. conduct a prior inspection of the location in order to ensure that it In accordance with GEO no. 77/2009, the licence and auth- observes the regulatory conditions. orisation enter into force on the first day of the month following the The list of documents to be submitted in the process is indicated one during which the licence/authorisation application was approved by the legislation, such documents being aimed at providing by the regulator and the taxes owed by the operator were paid in information on the applicant (up to the ultimate beneficial owner(s)), advance. and its good standing (as well as the good standing of its legal The licence or authorisation may be cancelled in cases where it representatives and shareholders) – including the capacity to cover is discovered that at, the moment of granting the licence/auth- debts towards the Romanian state budget or the applicant’s own orisation, the applicant provided false or inaccurate information players at any moment – but also must detail the technical and repor- which, had it been known, would have led to the dismissal of the ting system intended to be used when carrying out the respective licence/authorisation application. In this situation, a new licence gambling activity in Romania. Nevertheless, the legislation also application can be submitted after a minimum of five years from the provides for the obligation of the applicant to provide any other data date on which the cancellation decision becomes final in the adminis- or information as requested by the regulator. trative appeal system, or from the date on which the court judgment From a procedural perspective, the complete licensing and/or becomes final and irrevocable. authorisation documentation must be submitted at least nine busi- The National Gambling Office may decide to revoke the Class 1 ness days prior to the date of the meeting of the National Gambling licence, depending on the consequences of the breach, for cases Office’s Supervisory Committee (such meetings being generally such as: (i) failure to comply with the obligations of payment to the organised twice a month), which is the body within the regulator Romanian state budget, or payment of the respective obligations competent to decide upon licence applications. with delay; (ii) the operator no longer has the organisation of games of chance as its main object of activity/scope of business; (iii) a final 2.4 Are any restrictions placed upon licensees in your judgment of conviction without rehabilitation has been issued against the operator; or (iv) any of the shareholders or legal jurisdiction? representatives of the operator keep their position for more than 30 days, when a final judgment of conviction without rehabilitation has The Romanian gambling regulation comprises certain provisions been issued against the respective individual/entity, in Romania or which, depending on the envisaged business model, may be in a foreign jurisdiction, for a crime stipulated by the Romanian considered restrictive or cumbersome, such as: gambling legislation or for any other crime committed with intent, ■ only companies established within the EU, EEA or Swiss to which a minimum two-year prison sentence was applied. Confederation may apply for a Class 1 gambling licence; After the Class 1 licence has been revoked, a new application can ■ online operators which do not hold their main gaming server in be submitted after at least one year from the date on which the Romania are required to establish safe and “mirror” servers on revocation decision became final. the Romanian territory, for the purpose of replicating data from The regulator may also decide to suspend the Class 1 licence for the main server, and reporting information, on a continuous situations such as the breach by the operator of its terms and basis, to the National Gambling Office; conditions or game rules, which generates damage for the player, or ■ online operators are required to open bank accounts in Romania, for any other reasons, even though not expressly regulated in the as well as to perform all transactions with the players via a Class legislation, until the situation is clarified. 2 licensed payment processor; Also, according to art. 9¹ of GEO no. 77/2009, the Supervisory ■ both land-based and online operators are required to rely only Committee of the National Gambling Office may suspend the on those B2B providers holding the necessary Class 2 licence(s) activity of the gambling operators or of the economic operators granted by the Romanian regulator; holding Class 2 licences, upon the motivated proposal of the ■ the introduction in Romania of land-based gambling equipment specialised directions of the National Gambling Office, until the may be performed only with the prior notification of the situation that generated the suspension ceases. regulator; ■ foreign online operators are required to appoint a local auth- 2.6 By Relevant Product, what are the key limits on orised representative for the purpose of representing the providing services to customers? Please include in this operator in relation to the Romanian authorities; and answer any material promotion and advertising restrictions. ■ bonuses granted by online operators may be advertised only on limited channels (i.e. operator’s own website(s), Class 2 licensed One of the general key limits under the Romanian regulation is the affiliates website(s) or e-messages to active players on the oper- prohibition of minors under 18 years old from participating in any ator’s database). kind of gambling activity.

In terms of sector-specific limits, it is worth noting the prohibition 2.5 Please give a summary of the following features of any from operating a casino within a hotel having a classification of less Licences: (i) duration; (ii) vulnerability to review, suspension than three stars, and the prohibition from placing AWP slot machines or revocation. within gaming halls dedicated to slots with unlimited stakes and winnings. In addition, land-based gambling locations are subject to several restrictions in terms of signalling their activity. The Class 1 licence is valid for 10 years and may be renewed for Romanian legislation contains certain restrictions related to identical periods of time, while the authorisation is generally granted gambling advertising. Some of the most significant may be deemed for one year (with the exception of the authorisation for land-based to be the following: temporary games, which is valid for three months) and must be ■ spamming is forbidden – publicity in the form of unsolicited e- renewed/prolonged on an annual basis. messages that include information regarding a game of chance, The Secondary Legislation sets forth that the licences and auth- addressed to an unlimited number of recipients, is forbidden; orisations may be prolonged, upon request, for identical validity ■ sending advertising materials to self-excluded players from online platforms is prohibited;

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■ advertising of gambling services which are not authorised in may range from EUR 5,000 per year (in the case of tombola or Romania is prohibited; poker clubs) to EUR 95,000 per year for land-based casinos. ■ outdoor advertising may not be placed within or near The authorisation tax for land-based activities is also paid on an educational institutions, or socio-cultural/religious premises; annual basis and is calculated by reference to the following criteria: ■ bonuses granted by online operators may be advertised only on (i) Operator’s revenue: in the case of betting activities, bingo limited channels (i.e. the operator’s own website(s), a Class 2 broadcast on television, and tombola, the authorisation tax licensed affiliate’s website(s), or e-messages to active players represents 16% of the operator’s revenue, but not less than a from the operator’s database); and specific amount which varies depending on the type of game ■ it is forbidden to display, outside the gambling locations, the (EUR 90,000 for betting; EUR 115,000 for televised bingo). values or goods granted through real or simulated bonuses, (ii) Number of locations/gaming means: land-based casinos promotions or jackpots. entail an authorisation tax of EUR 60,000 per table (for In terms of the regulator’s approach in relation to gambling Bucharest) or EUR 30,000 per table (for locations outside advertising, it is worth mentioning that the former management of Bucharest); each slot machine with unlimited winnings requires the National Gambling Office (replaced in May 2018, having been an authorisation tax of EUR 3,600; while in the case of bingo operational for only one year) drafted and published on its website, performed in gaming halls, the operator is bound to pay an auth- at the beginning of 2018, the Code of Ethics regarding responsible orisation tax consisting of EUR 7,000 per location, plus 3% of communication in gambling. This Code is not of a regulatory nature the value of the printed cards mandatorily purchased from the per se and the former president of the authority has stated that oper- Romanian National Printing House. ators, in view of the principle of social responsibility, should The legislation also imposes certain special taxes for the following voluntarily adopt the Code and apply stricter rules in terms of categories of land-based gambling: advertising their activities (the English version of the Code is ■ for VLT: 3% applied to the gambling revenue of the licensed published on the following page of the regulator’s website: operator; http://onjn.gov.ro/wp-content/uploads/Onjn.gov.ro/Rela% ■ entry fee for casinos (RON 50 = approx. EUR 10) and poker C8%9BiiPublice/Joc-responsabil/Ethical-code-on-responsible- clubs (RON 30 = approx. EUR 7); and gambling-ENG.pdf). The former management of the regulator also ■ vice tax for unlimited-winnings slot machines and video-lottery machines (VLT) of EUR 400 per post (terminal) per year. requested the industry’s feedback on the Code and, at that time, the As a separate payment obligation, organisers of land-based games Code remained to be finalised. Based on the latest discussions of chance are required to contribute EUR 1,000 per year to the between the industry’s representatives and the gambling office, it social responsibility activity incepted within the National Gambling appears that (at least at the time of writing of this chapter) the new Office through GEO no. 114/2018 (instead of the public fund for management does not endorse this Code of Ethics. the prevention of gambling addiction which was never established In addition, with regard to restrictions in relation to TV commer- – i.e. the legal provisions of art. 10 in GEO no. 77/2009 regulating cials for gambling, in April and then December 2017, the National the establishment of the public fund for the prevention of gambling Audiovisual Council (the “NAC”) issued warning decisions against addiction have been amended through art. 58 of GEO no. 114/2018 several TV stations because they had aired gambling commercials published in the Romanian Official Gazette on December 29, 2018, during timeframes “available to children”, and hence the audiovisual in the sense that the public fund has been replaced with a social principle regarding the protection of minors had been breached. responsibility activity in the gambling field). Based on the argumentation presented in the decisions, in the NAC’s As such, by effect of GEO no. 114/2018, a social responsibility opinion, gambling commercials could not have been broadcast activity has been set up alongside the National Gambling Office between 07:00 and 23:00. Even if these decisions were not of a financed entirely from its own funds, funds which consist of the annual regulatory nature per se, based on certain information available on contributions of the licensed gambling operators and Class 2 licensees. the market, it seemed that, as of 1 January 2018, (at least) some Also, as per art. 92 of GEO no. 114/2018, in 30 days from the entry Romanian-licensed broadcasters have taken the approach of into force of GEO no. 114/2018, the National Gambling Office complying with this decision and have ceased transmitting gambling notified the economic operators who had activity between 2015–2018 advertisements between 07:00 and 23:00. and owed the contribution established by the law for this period, to pay Where the NAC’s intention was to create a regulatory framework it into the State Treasury account in five days from receiving the for broadcasting gambling advertisements and the industry has notification. In addition, organisers of land-based games of chance proposed to the audiovisual regulator several circumstantiations and must establish a guarantee fund in order to cover the risk of non- exceptions with respect to the permitted time interval (e.g. the allow- payment of the obligations to the state budget. The amount of the ance of commercials in the context of a live sport event, irrespective guarantee varies according to the type of gambling activity; being set of when it is broadcast, etc.), the NAC issued Decision no. 614 of up either per machine (slot), per gambling table or per premises and 11 June 2019 for amending and completing Decision no. 220/2011 activity (for example, for land-based betting, the level of the guarantee regarding the Code of regulation of audiovisual content, which is EUR 7,000 for the activity itself and an additional EUR 100 for each states that the advertising of gambling should comply with the agency, but no more than EUR 100,000 for that operator). general rules for minors’ protection, except for the advertising of online gambling, which can be broadcast during live sports trans- Taxes for online gambling missions – art. 89 para. (3) of the Audiovisual Code: “With the An operator of online gambling must pay an annual licence tax, exception of the advertising spots related to bets that can be broadcasted also calculated by reference to the operator’s turnover, which ranges during live sports broadcasts, audiovisual programs containing games of chance, between EUR 6,000 per year (for an annual turnover of less than as well as the advertising spots promoting such games are subject to the conditions EUR 500,000) to EUR 120,000 per year (for a turnover exceeding of protection of the minors provided in chapter II, Classification of programs EUR 10,000,000). for the protection of minors, of Title II, Protection of minors.” The authorisation tax for online gambling is also paid on an annual basis and amounts to 16% of the income obtained from 2.7 What are the tax and other compulsory levies? gambling activities (GGR), but not less than EUR 100,000 per year. The administrative taxes for applying for and obtaining a Class 1 online licence are as follows: (i) EUR 2,500 for analysis of the file, paid Taxes for land-based gambling when the documentation for obtaining the licence is submitted to the For land-based gambling, the licence tax is a flat fee of a specific National Gambling Office; and (ii) EUR 8,500 for the issuance of the amount depending on the type of land-based games operated, which licence.

In addition, online licensed operators will have to make an annual All entities involved in the gambling industry which hold a licence contribution of EUR 5,000 to the social responsibility activity in the granted by the Romanian regulator (both land-based and online field of gambling that has been set up alongside the National operators, as well as licensed B2B providers) are required, pursuant Gambling Office for the prevention of gambling addiction. to GEO no. 77/2009 amended by GEO no. 114/2018, to pay an Also, in order to cover the risk of non-payment of the obligations annual contribution to a social responsibility activity established to the state budget, operators of online gambling must establish a alongside the National Gambling Office, whose main purpose is to guarantee fund, according to the provisions of GEO no. 77/2009. The finance programmes and activities aimed at ensuring a responsible guarantee is established in the amount of EUR 100,000 per type of gambling environment and preventing gambling addiction cases. game organised (online casino, online betting, online bingo and keno). As regards online gambling, the Secondary Legislation specifically Also, as per art. 53 of GEO no. 114/2018, starting from 1 January provides that the platforms must be designed to enable responsible 2019, online gambling organisers have the obligation to pay a gambling functions such as setting daily, weekly or monthly deposit monthly tax of 2% calculated from the total of participation fees limits, the possibility for players to permanently or temporarily self- cashed in every month. This 2% tax is calculated, declared and paid exclude from gambling, etc. In addition, online operators are obliged th to the state budget by the 25 (including) of the month following to inform players who have opted to self-exclude of the possibility the one in which the participation fees were cashed in. The method of receiving counselling and treatment for gambling addiction at a of calculation of this tax is established by Order of the President of treatment centre. the National Gambling Office no. 38/2019, according to which the monthly tax is calculated by applying the 2% rate to the total of participation fees cashed in every month, where the total of 2.9 How do any AML, ﬁnancial services regulations or participation fees cashed in every month are defined as any transfer payment restrictions restrict or impact on entities supplying from the players’ bank account or similar account to their game gambling? Does your jurisdiction permit virtual currencies to accounts on the gaming platform. be used for gambling and are they separately regulated?

Taxes for licensed B2B providers The regulation also sets forth that a B2B provider holding a Class 2 In accordance with GEO no. 77/2009, all payments to players licence is bound to pay an annual licence tax of EUR 6,000 and participating in online gambling must be made only through a contribute EUR 1,000/licence per year to the social responsibility payment processor which holds a Class 2 licence granted by the activity in the gambling field that has been set up alongside the National Gambling Office, irrespective of whether the respective National Gambling Office for the prevention of gambling addiction. payment entity already holds the necessary authorisations/approvals In addition,