Europe signs shared liquidity

European authorities have reached last night a new deal on online poker shared liquidity.

Spain.- The major gaming regulator in Spain, Dirección General de Ordenación del Juego (DGOJ) published a final statement last night informing about the newest agreement on online poker shared liquidity in the European market. The international settlement was signed yesterday by authorities from France, Portugal, Spain and Italy.

“This agreement aims at improving cooperation and information exchanges among the authorities to allow the liquidity sharing between licensed online poker operators, fighting the illegal market and fraud, guaranteeing player protection and the respect of the anti-money laundering prescriptions,” revealed DGOJ’s statement.

Although it is a big step for the international gaming industry, the agreement has not immediately come into force as each government will implement it according to its regulatory requirements. However, the European gaming authorities “commit to make their best efforts to enable effective implementation by the end of the year,” according to the DGOJ.

Regulators have largely accepted the evidence that shows that countries collect less tax when online poker is segregated. Furthermore, they have also begun to promote changes that channel a higher percentage of the population toward the regulated market and away from black market operators. Under a shared market, European authorities would establish common legislations to regulate tax and licensing conditions, among other relevant legal and economic issues.