Gambling is a popular pastime in Denmark. Many active players frequently engage in different gambling activities in the country. The gambling operations are under the Danish Gambling Authority known as Spillemyndigheden. It is the body that oversees everything concerning the industry, including the issuance of licenses and falls under the Danish Ministry of Taxation.
Although the country is among the European economic region, it has its approach towards regulation of the gambling industry. For any operator wishing to invest in the Danish market, it is important to know the rules and regulations.
For licensing, there are several determinants for the issuance of a license. One is any gaming activity requiring placement of a bet amount, which can either be money or with monetary value for participation. Besides, where there is winning after engagement and placing of a stake. Finally, it can be any gaming activity whose element has random characteristics and has met any of the outlines above. If any of the determinants is absent, an official license is not mandatory.
Option for Self-exclusion
In the efforts to ensure that there is responsible gambling, there is a self-exclusion record referred to as ROFUS (Register of Self Excluded Gamblers). Danish gambling authority runs the register and contains players who have issues such as addiction to online gambling. There were over 17,000 gamblers registered on the ROFUS.
It is a requirement that all licensed gaming companies provide a ROFUS section on their site. Gamblers can exclude themselves either permanently or temporarily according to their preferences. But many of them change their minds, and start looking for casinos uden om ROFUS (casinos without NemID, license and ROFUS).
Regulations on Gambling
Some operators wish to provide several games in different companies. Though the operator is the same, each company has to apply for an operating license. Once the company has a license, it has the authority to oversee the players’ registration and own all the data concerning them. The operator is responsible for supporting all the players and risks involved in all the games they provide.
Operators are allowed to outsource some of their responsibilities. However, the Danish gambling authority has to come through and do analysis to determine what is acceptable and not. Some accountabilities have to be with the license holder.
There are five types of licenses that gambling companies in the country can apply.
- Online Casino license valid for five years
- An Online Casino Income Restricted License. It comes with one-year validity. The game has a Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) of up to 1 million DKK.
- Turn-Over Restricted License. It comes with one-year validity. It is for Manager Games’ operators whose GGR is 5 million. The Return to Player Rate has to be less than 20 percent.
- A Betting License valid for five years.
- Income Restricted License that is valid for one year. It has a Gross Gaming Revenue (GGR) of up to 1 million DKK.
The legislation in Denmark allows foreign operators once they successfully undergo vetting and have met all the legal requirements. The online platforms may offer Poker, Roulette, Gaming machines, but with the exclusion of lotteries.
Reporting of Illegal Gambling and Advertising
The Danish gambling authority recommends that any person, whether a player or a trader should report any illegal operator. It could be a gambling operator who has no license. Besides, advertisements for illegal gaming or gaming operators should be published too. Reporting can be through contact. The report becomes part of the regulation activities in the gambling industry. The authority examines whether indeed, there was an unlicensed advertisement or offering of gambling services. A notice will be served to the illegal gambling operator. Later, the authority seeks an order from the County Court with which they block the site. Besides, the media advertising for an unlawful gambling operator gets a contravention notice to halt the activity. If it persists, then they are reported to the police.
Payment Blocking
The Danish payment act provides that license holders can only receive deposits from legalized providers of payment services. The authorization may be granted in Denmark, the EU, or a country in a financial agreement with the EU.
A payment service provider without Danish authorization has to obtain a cross-border authority from the supervisory authority in the home country. That is per the Danish Financial Business Act. Gaming operators have to identify and assess the risk of money laundering and financing of terrorism activities. There must be adequate written policies to limit any possibility of such. Besides, the gambling operators have to start customer due diligence with their clients. Some situations need enhancing while in others, it is sufficient when simplified.
In case of any suspicious transactions, the gambling operators should report to the Danish State Prosecutor for Serious Economic and International Crime. For gambling involving the use of virtual currencies, there is no particular legislative clause about it. Therefore, provided there is a chance to win a prize, the activity is considered as ‘gambling’ and is subject to regulations provided by the Gambling act. The Danish payment act only covers for the regulated virtual currencies. Therefore, gaming operators do not accept unregulated ones such as Bitcoin as payment instruments.
Internet Blocking
Danish gaming authority is keen on blocking illegal gaming websites. According to the regulator, 25 sites were shut to fight the unlawful activity. Spillemyndigheden, in partnership with the Ministry of Taxation, carried out scrutiny on over 500 websites. Ten were found to be operating illegally, prompting the authority to file a petition in the court seeking permission to shut them down. Web crawling is the technique used to monitor the gambling market. The activity happens several times in a year where a crawler is set with particular keywords such as poke and bingo.
Conclusion
The Danish gambling legislation model is a success with little illegal activities and many licensed operators. The presence of many license holders brings about competition in the market hence leaving little enticement for punters to use unlawful sites. Besides, the rules comply with the European Union legislation. However, the model outlaws Banks and ISPs, yet they are not the operators of illegal gaming.
