Dutch gambling regulator warns two operators over player protection measures 

The KSA said the operators had failed to monitor customers’ behaviour. 

The Netherlands.- The Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) says it has issued warnings to two operators for customer protection failures. It said they failed to effectively monitor customers’ gambling. 

The KSA did not name the operators involved but said it found that they had allowed players, including young adults, to deposit and lose thousands of euros in a short space of time without taking action. This put them in breach of the KSA’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act (WWFT).

The regulator highlighted the case of a 21-year-old who lost €17,000 between October and December 2021 and a 26-year-old who lost close to €114,000 in November 2021. The KSA found that a 23-year-old had lost €87,000 between October 2021 and March 2022, while a 29-year-old lost €27,000 in only two weeks.

The KSA stressed that operators must monitor customer behaviour and take action if they see unusual activity. That could include sudden large deposits or suspicions of match-fixing, which must be reported to the Netherlands’ Financial Intelligence Unit.

It said it would monitor the two operators in question for three months to ensure they make changes to their processes. It will make another check at the start of next year.

Earlier this month the KSA warned the Netherlands’ National Postcode Lottery operator over breaching the country’s new gambling ad rules. The regulator found that a campaign for its Deal or no Deal game had violated the ban on using role models that appeal to young people.

The KSA found that the operator had used a famous person with broad reach among young people in the Netherlands. New rules require operators of lower-risk products to investigate a celebrity’s appeal to young people before using them in ads.

The warning comes after the KSA called for careful moderation of gaming ads during the football World Cup. It has written to advertisers to inform them that it will increase its attention on gambling ad standards during the event, which starts on November 20.

The World Cup takes place before the introduction of the Netherlands’ ban on untargeted broadcast gambling advertising, which is to come into effect on January 1. However, the KSA said it would be checking to ensure advertisers comply with existing rules, including a ban on using role models since the start of July.