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Austria’s regulator has fined Hypo Vorarlberg Bank for failing to meet due diligence requirements, while a key Irish bank has introduced a new gaming block for its customers.

With Nevada gamblers already using wagering accounts to fund sports betting or casino play, regulators are considering lifting a long-standing prohibition on using those same accounts to pay for restaurants, hotel rooms or other non-gaming amenities.

Peru’s gambling regulator has finally completed its assessment of licensing applications and issued a total of 120 licences to 60 online gambling operators.

The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has said that two Dutch influencers have taken down a YouTube video advertising an illegal, unlicensed gambling operator and its website after a warning from the regulator.

Academic and prominent anti-loot box campaigner Leon Y. Xiao has criticised gambling regulators for failing to crack down on skins gambling, as he presents a new paper that characterises video game platform Steam as a purveyor of illegal gambling.

This report is part of Vixio’s Outlook series, which provides subscribers with forward-looking insights and consolidated research on key segments of the global gambling and payments industries. This edition is designed to provide high-level intelligence and forecasts surrounding the use, development and regulatory changes affecting artificial intelligence (AI), with a focus on the payments and gambling markets.

The Reserve Bank of India has said its retail CBDC pilot is attracting users by the million, while the Netherlands has released new material to help firms comply with informational requirements under DORA.

Facing strong opposition from the country’s blockchain industry, the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA) has told Vixio that it stands by its latest guidance on stablecoin issuance.

The Bank of Lithuania has issued a formal letter outlining its expectations for entities currently providing or intending to provide services related to crypto-assets.

A select group of bipartisan lawmakers will introduce a measure in next year’s legislative session that would take Virginia’s multiple state agencies that regulate gaming and consolidate most of them into a single independent authority.

Brazil’s betting regulator has shuffled its pack to give officials more bandwidth to review all 113 licence applications that were submitted before a key deadline last week. 

Government-owned Holland Casino lost €3.5m in the first half of the year and has warned that more losses are certain if a planned increase in gambling tax goes ahead, with a top executive raising the possibility of a government bailout.

Earlier in August, the Payment Systems Regulator (PSR) published a response to its December call for views on variable recurring payments (VRPs) and their expansion in the UK. The call for views set out initial proposals on how the PSR could support the Phase 1 expansion of VRPs to regulated financial services, regulated utilities sectors, and local and central government. The PSR’s latest publication summarises stakeholder feedback on the expansion of VRPs, revealing support for better coordination, but concerns about the need for a multilateral agreement (MLA) and, within that, a central price.

Victoria state’s gambling regulator has slapped wagering giant Tabcorp Holdings with a A$4.6m ($3.1m) fine over systematic compliance breaches, a state record for the company, as well as letters of censure and an operational overhaul order.

A new study reveals that the crypto industry has spent "unprecedented" amounts on influencing this year’s US elections, Tether is launching a new UAE stablecoin, and Australia counts the costs of crypto scams.

New Zealand’s Commerce Commission has granted conditional authorisation to Payments NZ to develop a framework for open banking, as regulators look to disrupt the "oligopoly" of the country’s four largest banks.

A new study has found that the US is now the global capital of corrupt banking, while Canada’s TD bank has set aside $2.6bn to pay anti-money laundering (AML) penalties.

Brazil received an unprecedented 113 applications for federal licences to operate sports betting and online gaming before an initial deadline of midnight on Tuesday, but at least some applicants are not expected to pay the hefty R$30m (US$5.5m) price tag when the time comes. 

New Zealand opens consultation on account-based play rules and Bovada adds Ohio to growing list of restricted states.

The Netherlands Gambling Authority has said it is “urgently” warning Formula One, Team Sauber and the Dutch Grand Prix that they should not promote unlicensed, and therefore, illegal online gambling operator Stake.com during this weekend’s racing event in the Netherlands.