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Suppliers licensed in Romania will soon have to inform the regulator of any deals they make anywhere in the world under impending legislation, in the latest international effort to force B2B providers not to sell content to illegal operators.
Tertiary regulation published by the Romanian government will require radical disclosure from suppliers, to meet the stated aim of ensuring that operators targeting Romania illegally do not have access to the same content as licensed operators.
According to the draft regulation, “B2B licensees operating in Romania through a local company or through a company having a permanent establishment in Romania” are required to notify the regulator any time they sign a contract with an operator in any part of the world unless that operator already has a licence in Romania.
“The proposal states that B2B licensed operators have the obligation to notify and submit with the regulator any agreement (irrespective of its form) covering the provision of gambling-related services to B2C operators not having a B2C Romanian licence in a maximum of five days after entering into such agreement,” explained Cosmina Simion, managing partner at WH Simion & Partners.
Although some elements of the decree are unclear, says Simion, the most likely reading is that the new rules would apply to every supplier with a licence in Romania, regardless of where they are headquartered.
A supplier would also need to acquire a declaration from its operator customer that the B2C provider will restrict access to its platform from Romania if it is not licensed in the country.
The legislation is open for comments until August 2, after which it would come into effect once published in Romania’s official gazette, unless it is amended or withdrawn in the meantime.
Simion raised concerns with the decree, including that tertiary legislation should not be adding new provisions to gambling law and instead only clarify the existing rules.
“We would also mention the contradicting provisions, lack of clarity, missing a mere basis for such requests, or lack of jurisdiction in terms of enforcing at least in part some of the proposed new obligations,” said the attorney.
Romania was one of the first jurisdictions globally to introduce full licensing for suppliers, a practice now becoming increasingly common in Europe and beyond.
Suppliers must be licensed in Sweden, for example, where the regulations are also aimed at preventing suppliers from providing their services to both the black and white markets simultaneously.
Regulators in the US state of Michigan have also taken action that echoes the plans in Romania.
Suppliers licensed in the state have been sent forms requiring them to detail all commercial relationships globally, including whether the operators they supply are licensed in those markets.
A second, less controversial, piece of legislation that will clarify the joint operation of gambling licences in Romania is also open for comments until August 2.
