Dutch gambling regulator recognises flaws in risk analysis system
The KSA has begun talks with the Ministry of Justice and Security to design a new system to measure the risk of different games.
The Netherlands.- The Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has recognised flaws in its system of risk analyses of the range of games provided by its online gambling licensees. It says its research shows that the system does not work properly and that the execution of the risk analyses entails a lot of effort and costs for the online providers while failing to offer much extra protection for the player.
When the Dutch online gambling market opened in October 2021, the duty of care for operators set out in the regulations included a requirement for providers of online games of chance to carry out a risk analysis (or have it carried out) into their range of games in order to determine how risky the games are. Based on the risk, online providers must take additional preventive or protective measures in order to protect the player.
The KSA’s investigation looked into how online providers carry out this risk analysis, including the methods used. External organisations that carry out the analyses and the departments or officials of the online providers themselves were also examined. The research found that five different research methods are used.
Moreover, the regulator found that risk analyses do not lead to consistent results, even when they are carried out by one party or when it concerns the same games offered by different providers. The results of all the analyses carried out are therefore difficult to compare.
It has also been noted that online providers usually carry out the risk analysis per game category level, rather than per individual game. This can result in certain games being classified too low within a category. The regulations do not include any rules about this.
The KSA has concluded that the current system does not work optimally and has begun talks with the Ministry of Justice and Security about improvements in the future with the aim of creating a more unambiguous system for determining risk analysis.
Dutch online gambling licence renewals
Meanwhile, the KSA is to amend its Remote Gambling Licensing Policy Rules as it prepares to open licence renewal applications for the Netherlands’ online gambling market. The current five-year Dutch online gambling licences granted in September 2021 will expire on October 1, 2026, and the regulator has set out the criteria for renewal.
The amended policy rules impose new obligations on all applicants, but primarily provide guidance on the process for applying for a follow-up licence. New rules include a requirement for applications to include a document explaining how providers plan to inform the KSA in a timely manner about important changes to their policies and operations.
Applicants must also now include an exit plan explaining how they will wind down their gaming offerings when a licence expires. Another addition focuses on reliability: if providers have not complied with final or provisionally enforceable court rulings at the time of their application, their reliability is not beyond doubt. Since this constitutes grounds for refusing a licence renewal, such providers must submit a risk analysis against the criteria of Dutch anti-money laundering legislation, the Wwft.
A separate application procedure applies to applications for a follow-up licence by parties already active on the market. In this procedure, various aspects will be reassessed, including the addiction prevention policy and the recruitment and advertising policy. A new integration test will be conducted for the control database (CDB) component.
