The Future and Freedom political party in Italy has filed a motion requesting the prohibition of all gambling advertising in the country, as talks among lawmakers over a potential ban continue.
Members of the party this week asked the Italian government to “prohibit commercial advertising activities related to gaming, betting, lotteries and sweepstakes. “ It also requested that a certified independent body analyse the possibilties of pay-out for all games licensed and regulated by Italian regulator AAMS and publish the results. The motion cited the rise of “psychological dependence and economic ruin” as accompanying all forms of gambling in the country - which has grown 20-fold in ten years - and argued that additional preventative measures alongside those already in place were also needed to “prevent the infiltration of the gaming market by criminal organisations.”
The motion follows discussions of a potential ban on Friday between the Parliamentary Justice Commission and the Italian Senate Finance Committee, which also discussed sanctions for players and advertisers of non-Italian licensed websites and also the blocking of transactions between financial institutions and such websites.
Lawyer Giulio Coraggio of DLA Piper told Casino Choice that the current scenario was “very uncertain” and that it was as yet unclear which of the provisions currently being discussed by legislators would be included in a forthcoming Fiscal Decree, which may also be subject to further review by the Italian Parliament. However, the lawyer added:
“There have been some statements from the Minister of Health, Mr Balduzzi, on the need for stringent checks on the gaming sector to ensure the protection of minors, but he has admitted that a complete ban on online advertising is probably not what they are looking for and it is more likely that they will end up with something similar to the UK approach,” said Coraggio. The UK at present allows all online casinos, sportsbooks, bingo sites and poker rooms licensed in EEA Member States, Gibraltar and on its “white list” of approved jurisdictions to advertise into the UK.
The Italian goverment was also reported last month to be considering moving from a 20% gross profit tax to a 1% turnover levy for online poker and casino games. The mooted tax changes however failed to appear in the fiscal decree eventually approved by the Italian government, much to the relief of regulated Italian online casino and poker operators such as 888, William Hill and PokerStars.
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