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Bwin.party digital entertainment deal with casino in Belgium...
Bwin.party put a plug on any possible criminal charges in Belgium against its chief executive by doing a deal with a licensed land-based casino operator that permits it to continue taking bets from Belgian citizens.
Norbert Teufelberger was last month quizzed by Belgian police in Brussels after attending an online gambling conference. He had until Monday to answer further questions about the company’s operations in Belgium.
Bwin.party has been on a blacklist of gambling operators taking bets in Belgium without a licence. Online gambling licences are only available to operators holding an offline gambling licence.
The company has now in effect achieved this by doing a deal with Belcasinos, a subsidiary of the land-based casino operator Groupe Partouche.
In a statement, Bwin.party advised Belcasinos was one of only four land-based casino operators eligible for an online gambling licence. Commercial terms of business were not disclosed.
Bwin.party advised that it had received approval for its alliance from the Belgian Gambling Commission and that the commission would be removing the group from its blacklist.
“The group and the commission have also agreed to drop all pending legal disputes and the group has begun to adapt its systems in order to comply fully with the prevailing licensing regime,” Bwin.party said.
The detention of Mr Teufelberger prompted Bwin.party and other online gambling companies to accuse the Belgian authorities of intimidation, and to appeal to the European Commission to insist that Belgium comply with EU laws on market competition.
Mr Teufelberger and co-chief executive Jim Ryan said: “Following recent developments in Belgium and after further dialogue with the local regulator, we have put our differences of opinion behind us and are now focused on the immediate commercial opportunity.
“Together with our new partner we are now in the process of securing the necessary approvals to meet the requirements set by the BGC and do not expect any interruption to our service for customers in Belgium.”
Gambling operators are under massive pressure in the European region – faced with regulators determined either to impose stiff tax burdens on online gambling, or restrictions on the companies that can apply for licences.
New stringent gambling regimes in Germany and Greece have prompted Betfair to pull out of those markets. Betfair this week said the “challenging” climate in Europe meant it would focus solely on regulated markets.
William Hill has also pulled out of Greece, where regulators have threatened penalties or criminal sanction on operators without licences.
In the meantime, bwin.party Digital Entertainment and a swag of other gambling companies continue to look for new opportunities and markets, with countries such as Canada, Australia and New Zealand all understood to be regions of great interest.
Bwin.Party operate popular gambling websites such as PartyCasino.com and PartyPoker.com
Stay turned to Media Man, Casino News Media and Global Gaming Directory for developments.
Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month'...
Media Man's top online casino choice: PartyCasino.com PartyCasino is a multi-time Media Man 'Online Casino Of The Month' winner and have also won awards from EGR. Earlier this year PartyGaming merged with Bwin to create the worlds leading igaming company, Bwin.Party Digital Entertainment.
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