Italian authorities have submitted a decree to the European Commission to regulate betting transactions within the country. This is a positive change, if approved the by the Comission, for UK betting business such as Betfair, 888 Casino and William Hill.
This is the second string of good news for Italian operations after regulation was approved last year that allowed online games such as poker into the mix.
The new decree will specifically allow for UK and other foreign betting companies to apply for permission under their current Italian gambling licenses to operate betting exchanges in-country.
What does this mean on the whole? The entire Italian market will be opened up, upon approval, to foreign businesses allowing them to reap profits that were once closed to them.
The Chief of Legal and Regulatory Affairs of Befair, Martin Cruddance, couldn’t be more pleased with these developments. According to him this signals a positive change and on-going development of Italian gambling regulation. He went on to remark that such developments were a signal that local authorities have much confidence in the ability for Italy to be a good market and produce good consumers in the realm of betting exchanges.
He rounded up his comments with a not surprising quip that expansion is a “key element” to his company’s growth strategy and that the opportunity to license its product in Italy was “hugely important” for them.
Betfair has been named “Company of the Year” twice by the Confederation of British Industry and has won two Queen’s Awards for Enterprise. It’s also been Innovation (2003) and International Trade in 2008.
Employing over 2000 employees, the company and several of the UK’s largest online gambling businesses are poised to enter the Italian market, to their benefit.
