Betfair will have to wait even longer to launch exchange betting in Italy as the regulator is still working on changes aimed at addressing the concerns of Spain with the enabling legislation.
As reported on Casino Choice, the statutory three-month standstill period set aside for the European Commission (EC) and Member States to review Italy’s amendments to its gambling laws to regulate betting exchanges was extended to today - 18 May - after Spain issued a detailed opinion against the Ministerial Decree.
But Italian regulator AAMS is still working on changes aimed at addressing Spain’s concerns with the Ministerial Decree first notified to the EC back on 16 January, delaying the implementation of the legislation for an indefinite period.
AAMS head of remote gaming Francesco Rodano however told Casino Choice that he was unable to reveal exactly what Spain had opposed in the Decree and how the regulator was addressing the issues on behalf of the Italian government. “I apologise, but the content of the Spanish detailed opinion is not public, so I can’t disclose it,” said Rodano.
The delay means that Betfair and Microgame, the two companies set to go head-to-head in Italy’s new exchange betting market, will have to put their plans on ice yet again. Betfair confirmed its intent in January to apply for an authorisation under its existing Italian online gambling licence to operate the company’s betting exchange product in the country. The company’s core exchange product has not been available in Italy since early last year after Betfair Italia was subject to enforcement action from AAMS for offering games to Italian punters off Betfair.com, in breach of its licence for Betfair.it.
Leading Italian software provider and network Microgame, which first announced its plans to launch an exchange betting product back in 2010, in March confirmed Betdaq operator Global Betting Exchange(GBE) as its technology partner. Microgame will look to build the required liquidity by making its the People’s IBEX platform available to its client base of 160 licensees already offering products including fixed odds betting, horse-race betting, skill games and poker. Microgame’s People’s Network accounted for 27.6% of cash poker revenues in Italy in February, based on the last publicly available data for the territory.
