Draft law seeks to end ban on gambling in Albania
The draft law would end the four-year ban on sports betting and gambling outside of casinos.
Albania.- The government of Albania is reviewing a draft law that would end the country’s gambling ban. Gambling in Albania has been banned outside of state-approved casinos since January 2019 as part of the country’s preparations for European Union entry, but the draft law seeks to bring that to an end.
The prohibition of gambling was introduced due to European Union concerns about organised crime and money laundering in the country. However, prime minister Edi Rama said last year that the government would lift the ban because it had not reduced crime.
Strict AML measures
The draft law has been drawn up by the Ministry of Finance and Economy and aims to introduce strict anti-money laundering (AML) measures and customer compliance rules. Operators would only be able to accept digital payments from authorised agents licensed by the Bank of Albania. That would include local banks and companies like Western Union and The Albanian Post.
Gambling operators would need to register their business entities with the National Business Centre, which would check management and shareholders for criminal convictions or judicial processes for criminal offences.
Operators would also need to keep players’ personal data for at least three years, would have to guarantee winnings and would be required to keep a minimum of €1.5m or at least 5 per cent of all deposits made by players in the previous financial year in a designated bank account.
A special fund would be created to channel funds from the 15 per cent corporate income tax paid by operators towards sports, culture and welfare projects. State institutions would be able to pitch to receive extra funds for projects from gambling taxes.
Land-based casinos would have to deposit 0.4 per cent of their annual turnover on top of the 15 per cent corporate income tax. The National Lottery will pay 5.4 per cent of annual turnover.
Sports federations have been calling for an end to the gambling ban in Albania. Groups including the national Olympic Committee have written to the Albanian government calling for the reintroduction of regulated sports betting in order to generate revenue to support sports.
Before the ban, there were reported to be more than 4,700 gambling shops in the country. The new draft law does not specify a limit on the number of licences that will be issued.
