Europe moves forward with shared liquidity

Online poker shared liquidity would take effect this week in Italy, according to regulators.

Spain.- European major gaming regulators confirmed their intention to sign an online poker shared liquidity agreement this week. According to the governmental organisations, the expected settlement would take effect this July 6. Officials from France, Italy, Portugal and Spain will meet this week in Rome to close the deal.

According to ARJEL, gaming regulator from France, this week’s agreement will “set the basis for cooperation between the signing Authorities in this context and will be followed by further necessary steps within each of the jurisdictions involved in order to effectively allow for liquidity poker tables.”

Meanwhile, the Spanish Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) released the same statement last Friday. It has been a year since the authorities first gathered to evaluate a possible shared market in order to strengthen the benefits and install a multilateral control over the online poker platforms.

Under a shared market, European authorities would establish common legislations to regulate tax and licensing conditions, among other relevant legal and economic issues. During the negotiations between the five countries, Austria and Germany also presented their plans to join the discussion. The latest meeting was held in Lisbon from May 10-12, where authorities mainly evaluated legislations to control anti-money laundering and anti-terrorism financing operations.