This document discusses gambling regulation in Belgium. It provides details on Belgium's licensing system for gambling, which includes 9 classes of licenses with over 19,000 total licenses issued. It also discusses measures to regulate the legal gambling market and combat illegal gambling operations, including age restrictions, self-exclusion programs, criminal penalties, and law enforcement actions. The regulatory authority aims to balance interests like consumer protection, tax revenue, and restricting criminal activity in order to maintain a stable, regulated gambling industry.

1. When local meets global

2. Belgium
• 11 million inhabitants / 3 regions
• Taxation at regional level (federal:
VAT/corporate taks)
• Obligation to be located in the country
• global gambling industry active in Belgium

3. 9 classes of licences + 3 supplementary licences
classes of licences Number of licenses
issued
Validity period
of license
License A : Casino’s 9 15 years
License A+ : online Casino’s 8 15 years
License B : Gaming Arcades 176 9 years
License B+ : online Gaming Arcades 35 9 years
License C : Pubs 9164 5 years
License D : A, B, F2 - staff 7440 none
License E : Supplier/Repairer/installer
services
202 10 years
License F1 : Betting organizer 33 9 years
License F1+ : online betting 22 9 years
License F2 : Betting offices/newspaper
shops/ bookmakers
2409 3 years
License G1 : Media games (TV) 1 5 years
License G2 : Media games ( not TV) 0 1 year
Total licenses 19.499

4. Illegal market: what does not work
• 100% illegal
• 100% foreign companies
• No engaged gambling regulator
• No clear red (criminal) red lines
• 100% liberalization (gradual opening)

5. Legal market: what does work
• Online regulated market
• A controlled opening of the market
• Controlled expansion
• B2B & B2C
• Consumers want to feel protected – Public
authority wants to be respected
• Return to society (taxation, employment, good causes)
• Stability for the good ones, instability for the bad

6. National - Transnational
– Country features
• Historical (prohibition to regulation – UK/Belgium)
• Economics (Employment - return to society)
• Strong demand for legitimacy
• Financial (taxes)
– Transnational features
• Mergers
• Technology platforms (all in one)
• No direct impact as national regulator

7. Regulatory authority
• Finding equilibrium between different
interests

8. Clear definition of illegal activity
• Art. 4. §1. It is prohibited for anyone to operate in any form,
in any place and in any direct or indirect manner
whatsoever, a game of chance or gaming establishment,
without a licence obtained in advance from the Gaming
Commission

9. No profits for related persons
Art. 4 §2. It is prohibited for anyone to participate in a game
of chance, to facilitate the operation of a game of chance or
gaming establishment, to advertise a game of chance or a
gaming establishment, or recruit players for a game of
chance or gaming establishment when the person involved
knows that it concerns the operation of a game of chance
or a gaming establishment which is not licensed in
accordance with this Act.

10. Punishment
• Article 63. Persons guilty of a breach of the provisions of
articles 4, § 1, 4 § 3, (…) are liable to imprisonment for a
period of 6m to 5years and a fine of 800 to 800.000 euros.
• Article 64. Persons guilty of a breach of the provisions of
articles 4, § 2 (…) are liable to imprisonment for a period of
1m. to 3 y. and a fine of 248 euros to 200,000 euros.
• Article 65. The aforementioned penalties may be doubled:
– in the case of a repeat offence;
– committed against a person aged under 18 years.

11. Stop page

12. Measures for the protection of the
player
• Age restrictions limits
• Number of machines
• Epis
• Average hourly loss

13. a) Participation to game of chance (= theoretical) :
b) Access to games of chance (= ID control) :
- Casinos and slot machine arcades (also online) : YES
- Cafés : YES via eID card reader
- Betting offices and newsagents : NO, no obligation to
register clients or to insert ID-card, check in case of doubt
Measures for the protection of gamblers
Age exclusion (dep. on type of establishment) Minimum age for access
Casinos and slot machine arcades (also online) > 21 year
Betting offices (also online), news agencies, café’s > 18 year

14. EPIS – Excluded Person Information System
Federal Police
repository
Dossier ExclusionMinistry of Justice
repository
EPIS
Databa
se
EPIS
webinterface
Casino
(‘Dupont’, ‘Jacques’, ‘10-12-1965’)
(‘Janssens’, ‘Dirk’, ‘05-06-1988’)
Refuse!
May
enter!
Web service
Web form

15. Measures for the protection of gamblers
EPIS exclusions (article 54 et seq.)
Different categories of persons are excluded :
EPIS exclusion Number on 1/1/2018
Voluntary 29.935
Persons not able to manage their goods or person
(on request of their provisional administrator) Approx. 163.000
Because of their occupation (police officers, judges,
notaries public, judicial officers)
Approx. 46.000
On request of a third person (family, friend, other) 409
Persons with a collective debt settlement Approx. 120.000

17. Law enforcement
• Regulated market – chanelling percentage
• Criminal Act (Fines – broad responsibility)
• Black list – monitoring illegal market
• Prosecution
• Specialized police officers (betting on own
game)

18. Peter Naessens
Acting general director BGC
www.gamingcommission.be
peter.naessens@gamingcommission.be
18