Anne Poggemann appointed to lead new German gambling supervisor

Anne Poggemann will lead the new German gambling supervisor, Glücksspielaufsicht.

Germany.- The German state of Saxony-Anhalt has appointed Anne Poggemann as the first head of the Glücksspielaufsicht, Germany’s new gambling’s supervisory authority. 

Poggemann is a member of the Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party. She has previously served as the state’s secretary for sport and as an executive of Germany’s Financial Conduct Authority.

The state described her as its leading legal expert, recognising that interpreting and applying Germany’s new federal gaming legislation across the country’s 16 states will entail high-pressure demands.

Saxony-Anhalt was chosen to host Germany’s first federal gambling supervisor last year. It has been given until July 2022 to fully set up the Glücksspielaufsicht, which will be responsible for upholding the new legislation’s compliance obligations along with licensing duties and market standards.

Poggemann will select the supervisory authority’s first executive team, which will lead a unit comprising 110 employees to monitor industry standards, player safeguards and operator conduct. 

Germany’s new state treaty on gambling was finally approved earlier this year and officially came into force on July 1, although a transitional regime has already been in place since last year.

Last month, the German legislature, the Bundestag, voted to approve the gaming tax bill that accompanies the country’s new gambling legislation. It imposes a 5.3% tax on online slots and poker turnover.

The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) and the German trade association DSVW have both filed illegal state aid complaints with the European Commission. They argue that the tax regime would create an unfair advantage for the land-based gaming sector in Germany.