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Spain – Ministry of Finance takes key role in oversight of online gaming

By - 6 September 2018

Spain’s Ministry of Finance has tightened its control over the online gaming industry according to a government dossier published last week.

According to the dossier, while The Directorate General for the Regulation of Gambling (DGOJ) gave the green light to 95 new applications for gambling licenses out of a total of 206, the Ministry of Finance rejected nine requests and gave the go ahead for five which were expected to be granted in 2016.

The rejected permits are mainly linked to casino games (68 per cent), mainly live roulette machines or slot machines, or with the integration of new suppliers of games (13 per cent).

However, while the gaming and the betting sector continues to grow at a fast pace, the Ministry of Finance has imposed a ban on companies and websites that have not been completely transparent or have committed irregularities. Specifically, according to the dossier, in 2017 up to 271 websites were closed that did not comply with current regulations. The figure rises to almost one thousand in terms of websites that were not closed, but that were non-operational due to the absence of a government verdict.

Of all the incidents registered during the previous fiscal year, 20 disciplinary proceedings were initiated, of which 18 were taken over by the Ministry of Finance while the rest were initiated by the General Director for the Regulation of Gambling. As a result, the Spanish treasury collected almost €10m in fines for non-compliance.

The Treasury as well as local football leagues have strengthened measures against match fixing and corruption. In April 2017, the DGOJ introduced SIGMA (the Global Investigation Service for the Betting Market). Serving as part of the gaming board SIGMA is in charge of centralising, analysing and coordinating information generated by the online betting market when it comes to match fixing.

Last year there were 191 proceedings launched over suspicions surrounding rigged matches. Accordingly, 121 requests for additional information regarding the main suspects were made and 18 requisitions. On the other hand, the Ministry of Finance acted on seven occasions and the state received 45 alerts over possible fraudulent actions. As for suspicious activity, these were seen mostly in football and tennis.

Fraud in sports betting in Spain has been a major issue. In February a full-scale investigation was launched into match fixing in the third (Segunda B) and fourth tier (Tercera) divisions in the Spanish football league. Members of the Unit of Specialised and Violent Crimes (UDEV), in collaboration with members of the Technological Investigation Unit and Europol, initiated the operation to thwart an alleged plot, which was led by two ex-football players along with a number of other individuals who acted as intermediaries. The organisation is believed to have ties with other countries specifically China, where the illegal operation had contacts via a betting website.

More than 20 people were detained across Spain as part of the operation. Prior to the arrests the Liga de Fútbol Profesional (National Professional Football League) had been working with the police to provide any available data that could point to alleged match fixing which would have ties with other countries.

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