Birgitte Sand, director of the Danish Gambling Authority and a trustee of the IAGR, provides InterGaming Law with an update on the regulated online gaming market in Denmark.
BIRGITTE Sand’s English is excellent, with many phrases carrying barely a hint of a Danish accent. Such strong linguistic skills are not uncommon among continental Europeans of course but Sand’s fluency in English is even more notable given that she acts as something of an ambassador for the Danish approach to i-gaming.
Many if not all regulating authorities for online gambling would say that they operate an open-door policy when it comes to regulation. While that might be true, few individuals among the European regulators are more visible or accessible than Sand. Between meetings in Denmark and Finland, Sand talks to InterGaming Law about the early years of regulation in Denmark and what the future holds.
InterGaming Law: As regulated online gaming in Denmark approaches its second birthday, how’s it going? BS: “In 2012, we issued a considerable number of licences to a wide variety of gambling providers. This second year we were happy to be in a position that almost all the new online licencees were both interested and ready to change their one-year licence into a more permanent five-year licence meeting all the important requirements. This has left illegal providers with very limited room for manoeuvre.
“And, to be quite honest, the first year was very much about making the legislation operative and meeting all the most necessary working processes in place combined with a constant focus on having a continued dialogue with the licensees. This second year we work harder to achieve a deeper understanding and knowledge about the business of the operators and their service providers. We gather a huge amount of important data from the operators regarding their licensed activities in Denmark and it’s evident to us that we need to build up relevant knowledge about their businesses to decide on the right compliance approach. And we are very happy to experience that the licensees are very willing to open their doors to us.
“Apart from the different compliance initiatives based on the gambling data from the operators accessed via a secure safe system, the single most extensive supervision project we have done this year is going through the first-year reports that the licence holders for online casino and betting have been required to hand in. The reports have given the Danish Gambling Authority a valuable picture of the concrete and individual circumstances of our licence holders.
“On the basis of the reports, DGA has addressed the concrete problems that we have seen and we have at the same time gained a better feel for the areas in which we should increase our general guidance of the licence holders.”
Read the full article in the current issue of InterGaming Law.
