Veikkaus to lay off 200 staff as part of restructuring
As part of Veikkaus’s ongoing restructuring efforts, the company will be laying off approximately 200 of its employees in the near future.The company’s restructuring...
Parliament of Finland accepts betting refinements
The Parliament of Finland accepted the Lottery Act from the first reading which obliges to control offshore operators more strictly and adds more safeguards for Veikkaus, the Finish state-owned wagering agency.
The improvements involve blocking of payments for the other operators except Veikkaus. Besides, compulsory identification which has already been presented to the agency’s slots at the beginning of 2021, is to be applied to every type of wagering. This should be in act till 2024.
According to the Lottery Act, marketing regulations will also be changed. As for wagering game advertisements, particularly slot machines, they will be prohibited.
Anyways, blocking of payments is considered to be arguable as the Constitutional Committee claims that it’s against the Constitution.
At the same, the Administrative Committee claims that the bill must involve inquiry into the agency’s “particularly broken” system. They suggest applying payment blocking only for operators, not for users’ transactions. In addition to that, the Committee suggests shifting agency’s assistance to the state budget of Finland.
The government accepted the improvements at first reading. But it also needs to be accepted in the second reading in order to be shifted to the president for becoming law.
The secretary general of European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA), Maarten Haijer is strictly against the bill. He finds it to be a means for supporting Veikkaus’ monopoly when players search for other variants.
He mentioned:
“The approval of the bill proves the fact that players prefer other gambling sites rather than the one that is run by the state. It’s due to some factors such as the great range of better wagering odds, the products’ expertise, etc.
We offer the government to think again instead of forcing, for having a well-regulated wagering industry within the country”.
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