New online gambling legislation for Belgium

Due to come into force by the end of 2010 at the latest, the new legislation will institute a licensing and regulation scheme for all online and land-based poker and sportsbetting activities while not affecting lotteries.

The new regulations stipulate that any group wishing to offer online gambling services based in Belgium must now obtain a land-based license first. In addition, operators seeking to supply online gambling to Belgians must base any servers controlling that side of their operation in the nation.

The Belgian Gaming Commission is to be in charge of licensing and regulating all online gambling in the country while the national lottery will not be affected and remain as a monopoly of the state.

The changes will force foreign online gambling firms to first become licensed land-based operators before being able to offer their services to players in Belgium. However, a Royal Decree has seen a limit placed on the number of gambling licenses available with preference likely to go to domestic firms.

Numerous industry experts speculate that any difficulty in obtaining a license may see foreign firms wishing to offer their services in Belgium resort to simply targeting players from abroad. While this would be illegal under local laws, it remains to be seen whether local authorities would take any actions to stop such activities.