New German regulator awards licences to SkillOnNet and Bet-at-home

The Glücksspielbehörde has taken up responsibility for gambling licensing in Germany.

Germany.- The new federal gambling regulator, the Gemeinsamen Glücksspielbehörde der Länder, has begun its licensing duties. It’s announced its first licence issuances, granting online slots licences to SkillOnNet and Bet-at-home.

The new regulator took over control of online slots licensing from the state administration of Saxony-Anhalt on January 1 and now has complete authority as regulator.

The licence granted to SkillOnNet covers online slot games on all of its brands. It said it would focus on DrueckGluek.de, which has had a presence in Germany gaining a licence to operate in Schleswig-Holstein alone on the previous regionalised system in 2015.

Sales and marketing director Michael Golembo said: “Gaining the official German licence means SkillOnNet players will be part of a fully regulated experience, feeling more confident, safe and secure, many for the first time.

“It’s also a recognition that we meet the high standards of the German licensing regime and are prepared to work with regulators to meet those standards, reinforcing that responsible gaming is the cornerstone of everything we do.”

Bet-at-home, part of France-based Betclic Everest SAS Group, was granted an extension of its sports betting licence to cover online slots.

Chairman Marco Falchetto said: “With the obtaining of permissions for all product categories offered, Bet-at-home will now create complete legal and planning security for the group, investors and business partners in Germany.

The new German gambling regulator has its headquarters in Halle, in the south of Saxony-Anhalt. Bundestag representative Anne Poggemann has been serving as the state’s first gambling minister and overseeing its creation. Ronald Benter and Benjamin Schwanke will lead the regulator as joint chief executives. 

While the GGL already began some of its work last year, taking on responsibility for enforcement, it took up its full regulatory duties for German gaming on January 1. That means the end of Germany’s fractured system under which different verticals are the responsibility of different states.

Until now, the state administration of Saxony-Anhalt had been responsible for issuing online casino licences, Hessen had overseen sports betting, Rheinland-Pfalz charitable lotteries, Hamburg commercial lotteries and Niedersachsen lottery brokerage.

See also: Germany starts considering loot boxes in video game age ratings