On 19 July 2013, the government published a revised draft of the Betting (Amendment) Bill 2013. The re-publication of the Bill just five days after the publication of the General Scheme of a Gambling Control Bill (see our update here) confirms that the Irish government intends to press ahead with the introduction of a licensing regime for online bookmakers and betting exchanges prior to enacting a more comprehensive reform of Irish gambling laws in 2014/2015.

Purpose of the Betting (Amendment) Bill

The main purpose of the Bill is to bring betting intermediaries (i.e. betting exchanges) and remote bookmakers (i.e. internet and mobile betting providers) within the scope of the existing licensing regime, while it will extend the existing 1% turnover tax on land-based bookmaker's activities to online and mobile bookmakers. The Bill will also introduce a new 15% commission tax on betting exchanges. We reviewed the original draft of the Bill in our previous Briefing which is available here and we highlight the main changes to that draft below.

Main Changes

Overall the revisions made to the second draft of the Bill are minor. They can be summarised as follows:

Corporate Licence Holders

The Bill permits a company to hold a bookmaker's licence or a betting intermediary's licence and the revised Bill introduces some additional compliance and enforcement measures applicable to corporates. In particular, both the company and its "relevant officers" are required to obtain certificates of personal fitness.

Certificates of Personal Fitness

Irish Companies will be deemed to be ordinarily resident at their registered office while an overseas corporate will be deemed to be ordinarily resident at its principal place of business. Irish resident companies are subject to a local "certificate of personal fitness" requirement from a local Superintendent of the Garda Siochana (police) while non-resident companies are required to apply directly to the Department of Justice and Equality for their certificates of personal fitness.

Refusal of a certificate of personal fitness

A certificate of personal fitness may be refused on any of the grounds set out in the revised Section 6 of the Bill which includes prior gambling convictions, where a previous licence or certificate of personal fitness was revoked, where a licence holder unreasonably refused to pay sums due on a winning bet or where a bookmaker's premises was operated in a disorderly manner which caused loitering.

Relevant Officers

While the original draft Bill required only that a chairman or CEO/MD of a bookmaker or betting intermediary would be required to hold a certificate of personal fitness, the revised draft extends this to include all "Relevant Officers" which includes all board members and any other person who exercises control over the company.

Tax Clearance Certificates

A tax clearance certificate is also required for each licensee and each relevant officer. The Bill expressly provides for the sharing of information by Revenue, the Department of Justice and the Gardai while also providing for the potential sharing of information with overseas gambling regulators.

Bookmaker's Premises

Bookies shops will remain subject to a registration requirement with the Revenue Commissioners. The original proposal to extend opening hours from 7am to 10pm (excluding Christmas Day and Good Friday) survives.

Licence Terms and Fees

Licences for bookmakers, remote intermediaries and licensed bookmaker's premises will be issued for up to 24 month period ending on 30 November the following year (for bookmakers) or 30 June (remote intermediaries). The proposed licence fee remains at €5,000.

Fines/Imprisonment

Sanctions have been increased in the Bill. For example, a repeat offender who operates as a bookmaker or remote betting intermediary without a licence can be subject to prosecution on indictment which is subject to a €300,000 fine and/or 5 years imprisonment.

Betting by Minors

The revised Bill introduces a potential 6 month prison term on summary conviction (up to 2 years on indictment) for engaging in a betting transaction (including creating a betting account) with a person under 18 years of age. However, the original defence in the 1931 Betting Act of having reasonable cause to believe the person was over 18 years survives in the new Bill and the proposed new offence of misrepresenting oneself as being over 18 survives in the new draft.

Enforcement

The Revenue Commissioners are given powers to bring certain summary prosecutions. In addition, the Minister for Justice and Equality has the power to seek a District Court revocation order (for licensees) or a prohibition order (against unlicensed operators) for noncompliance by a bookmaker, remote betting intermediary or relevant officer. As with the original draft of the Bill, where an order is granted, the District Court may also make orders:

»» prohibiting credit institutions from transacting business with a noncompliant bookmaker/intermediary;

»» prohibiting advertising in Ireland by the non-compliant operator;

»» prohibiting any sponsorship in the State;

»» ordering ISPs to block non-compliant websites from use by Irish customers .

Next Steps

The revised Bill was notified to the EU Commission on 18 July 2013 and is subject to a "standstill period" until 21 October 2013. Assuming a smooth ride through the Commission and subsequently in the Oireachtas (parliament), it could be enacted in Q4 2013 or, perhaps more likely in the first half of 2014. We will continue to monitor developments.

This article contains a general summary of developments and is not a complete or definitive statement of the law. Specific legal advice should be obtained where appropriate.