The Swiss government pushed through a vote this week demanding that ISP should block International Online Gambling Operators from offering their services to nationals within the country.
But the vote did not go without controversy as opposing government MP’s said that the move was “something dictatorships do.”
Much of the pressure on the government came from land based casino operators in the country claiming their business was being eroded by online gambling sites and that their annual tax payments would be declining. International Online Gambling Operators currently pay no tax from their profits.
ISP are also against the move as they say it is proven woefully incapable of keeping local gamblers from exploring their online options in the country.
Showing posts with label Switzerland. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Switzerland. Show all posts
March 02, 2017
August 22, 2014
Switzerland move towards online gambling regulations
The Swiss government is looking at regulating and legalising online gambling, the move comes as many Swiss nationals already play online and many Swiss banks transfer money from players to online operators in Europe and overseas, so enforcing the current law seems useless.
So now the countries Conference of the Cantonal Directors in Charge of Gambling and Lotteries has put their full support in favour of introducing a legal framework to legaslise online gambling and at the same time seek taxes from online operators offering their products in the country.
However any new laws would come with the condition that it must not come with excessive liberalization. The CDCM said that discussions were held regarding regulation during a recent plenary assembly and decided that “it would be convenient to give gambling operators the opportunity to offer their games on the internet.”
One of the main conditions the organization said would be that licensing should only be open to ‘brick-and-mortar’ operators currently regulated in Switzerland, which would ban any offshore online operators.
The CDCM said: “We support the idea of extending the current licence. The online environment is not a new market: it is only a new medium to distribute the offer already available, it addresses the same clients and it meets the same needs of the traditional games.
“The arrival of new operators specialised in the online sector would lead to a competition that would be problematic from a political, social and possibly even economic point of view.” “We believe that those who hold a licence to offer brick-and-mortar casino games should not be ‘punished’ for the fact that they have respected the rules that currently forbid them to run operations online.”
At present no time frame for a bill legislating for online gambling has been given, but observers within the online gambling sector believe that early 2015 will see more movement towards legalising online gambling.
So now the countries Conference of the Cantonal Directors in Charge of Gambling and Lotteries has put their full support in favour of introducing a legal framework to legaslise online gambling and at the same time seek taxes from online operators offering their products in the country.
However any new laws would come with the condition that it must not come with excessive liberalization. The CDCM said that discussions were held regarding regulation during a recent plenary assembly and decided that “it would be convenient to give gambling operators the opportunity to offer their games on the internet.”
One of the main conditions the organization said would be that licensing should only be open to ‘brick-and-mortar’ operators currently regulated in Switzerland, which would ban any offshore online operators.
The CDCM said: “We support the idea of extending the current licence. The online environment is not a new market: it is only a new medium to distribute the offer already available, it addresses the same clients and it meets the same needs of the traditional games.
“The arrival of new operators specialised in the online sector would lead to a competition that would be problematic from a political, social and possibly even economic point of view.” “We believe that those who hold a licence to offer brick-and-mortar casino games should not be ‘punished’ for the fact that they have respected the rules that currently forbid them to run operations online.”
At present no time frame for a bill legislating for online gambling has been given, but observers within the online gambling sector believe that early 2015 will see more movement towards legalising online gambling.
January 23, 2014
Another Swiss miss for Bwin.Party
Meanwhile, one of the German betting hopefuls is coming under renewed criticism over the border in Switzerland. Last June, the country’s State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) called out several online gambling sites it claimed were engaging in “misleading” use of national icons such as the country’s coat of arms to imply some sort of state blessing on their operations. Singled out for particular derision was SCasino.com, which is operated by a subsidiary of Gibraltar-licensed operator Bwin.party digital entertainment.
SCasino has since removed the offending iconography, but SECO issued a fresh warning on Monday regarding what it believes to be another Bwin-backed site, onlinecasinoschweiz24.ch – along with Belize-based Virtual Casino Services Inc’s casino-zuerich.com and the unknown operators behind swisscasinoonline.eu. SECO said the sites’ use of the Swiss flag and the geographical terms ‘Schweiz’, ‘Swiss’ and ‘Zuerich’ were intended to “create the impression that the gambling games offered on the websites originate from Switzerland.”
In fact, the sites “have never been approved by the Swiss Federal Gaming Board” because online gambling remains illegal in Switzerland. SECO said the sites in questions are guilty of “violations of both the Federal Act against Unfair Competition and the Federal Act on the Protection of the Swiss Coat of Arms.”
SCasino has since removed the offending iconography, but SECO issued a fresh warning on Monday regarding what it believes to be another Bwin-backed site, onlinecasinoschweiz24.ch – along with Belize-based Virtual Casino Services Inc’s casino-zuerich.com and the unknown operators behind swisscasinoonline.eu. SECO said the sites’ use of the Swiss flag and the geographical terms ‘Schweiz’, ‘Swiss’ and ‘Zuerich’ were intended to “create the impression that the gambling games offered on the websites originate from Switzerland.”
In fact, the sites “have never been approved by the Swiss Federal Gaming Board” because online gambling remains illegal in Switzerland. SECO said the sites in questions are guilty of “violations of both the Federal Act against Unfair Competition and the Federal Act on the Protection of the Swiss Coat of Arms.”
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