Italy: Important Regulatory Update – Online Slots
Over the last few weeks two important regulatory developments have occurred in Italy concerning the last two games still missing from an already wide range of gaming products fully legal and regulated by AAMS (the Italian regulatory body): betting exchange and online slots.
With regard to betting exchange, on 19 May 2012 the European Commission gave its greenlight to the AAMS proposed rules that notably carry an unprecedented international pool liquidity rule that will allow operators to deal with foreign-based players too. This is particularly remarkable bearing in mind that in all other games currently regulated by AAMS the general rule is (and will remain) that the offer is limited to domestic players only and that the Italian market is therefore still tightly ring-fenced. Even more remarkable is the fact that notwithstanding the international pool liquidity rule was promptly challenged by another EU member state (Spain) and also was also heavily criticized by some Italian operators, AAMS stuck with its originally proposed text that eventually got the blessing of the European Commission although it is anticipated that most probably betting exchange will not go live in Italy until towards the end of the current year as a ministerial decree will have to be enacted and this process will take a good deal of months to complete.
The second regulatory development amounts to real breaking news as on 7 June 2012 AAMS posted on its website the new guidelines concerning the approval process for skill games, fixed odds games of chance and non-tournament card games. At page 2, letter b) thereof, it is stipulated that effective as from the day of publication of its paper (7 June 2012) applications may be submitted to AAMS for reel slot games too although at paragraph 4 of the AAMS note it is then specified that reel slot games authorised between now and December 2012 may however not go live until December 2012, namely on the first and third Monday of that month, in order fo AAMS to monitor a correct and progressive launch of this new category of games.
Operators willing be authorised to go live with their offer of online slots, will have to refer to Appendixes A, B and C of the upated platform certification guidelines (pages 65 to 77) where the reel slot games certification requirements are specifically set out.
Once also betting exchange and online reel slots go live, the Italian market will devise the widest offer of legal and regulated games across Europe as well as two new products that will hopefully re-vitalise (if boost altogether) a sector whose turnover figures over the past six months have been on a slightly declining trend.
Author: Quirino Mancini
