Germany: no online casino licences granted in Sachsen-Anhalt
The German state has published its whitelist of licenced operators, and it contains no slots, table games or poker operators.
Germany.- Despite the introduction of new legislation to regulate online gaming in Germany, the state of Sachsen-Anhalt has granted no licences for the online casino sector.
The state has published its whitelist of licensed operators permitted to operate under Germany’s new State Treaty on Gambling. The list names 35 online sports betting licensees, with that sector having already been regulated previously. But online casino? Not one.
The 35 licensees on the whitelist include Gauselmann Group’s Cashpoint brand, Bet365, Tipwin, Entain’s Bwin, four Tipico subsidiaries, Chilling Cheetah (Chillybet) and Ruleo (Mybet.de). There is, however, a notable absence of any licensees for online slots, table games or poker.
That’s despite the fact that online casino is permitted under the new State Treaty of Gambling, which came into effect on July 1. Sachsen-Anhalt did not clarify whether any operators had applied for licences and been turned down, or if there had simply been no interest.
Germany new gambling legislation
Many observers had already warned that the terms of Germany’s new legislation may lead to a low rate of channelisation to the licensed market due to tight restrictions, including a €1 per spin cap on stakes and €1,000 on spending.
On top of that, states can choose to maintain their own monopolies over tables games, while a separate tax bill introduced a 5.3 per cent tax on turnover from slots and poker.
The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) and the German trade association Deutscher Sportwettenverband (DSWV) have filed separate complaints with the European Commission arguing that the tax rate on online slots equates to illegal state aid for the land-based casino sector.
