ESTONIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Karolina Ullman, Triin Kaurson, Linell Raud and Felix Raidmäe, NJORD Law Firm
• Activity licence – the purpose of the activity licence is to ensure that the company and the people related to the company are experienced in this field and have the funding needed to organise gambling. Documents proving the reliability and competence of the persons involved must be submitted (includ- ing shareholders, management board members, and supervisory board members). All shareholders who own at least 10% in the gambling operator must disclose additional information and docu- ments. • Operating permit – the purpose is to assess whether or not the games to be provided are in compliance, all the necessary systems are up and running, and the documents comply with the provisions set by the law. This includes AML/KYC procedures, consumer protection, and gaming rules, as well as the “technical solution” (this is the connection between the operator’s servers and the regulator through X-tee which allows for the regulator to retrieve statistics directly from the operator’s servers). A gambling operator must ensure that it has access to the list of persons that have self-restricted their playing of games, with the help of the Tax and Customs Board. Also, an electronic record-keeping and control system must be adapted to the gaming operator system. The electronic record-keeping and control system is an electronic communications network connect- ing the gaming machines of the gambling operator or additional games of chance, or gaming equipment used for the organisation of remote gambling or toto. The gambling operator shall ensure the possibility of connecting the electronic record-keeping and control system with the information system of the Tax and Customs Board. This system shall ensure the registra- tion and recording of data in a manner that enables calculation of the turnover of the gambling operator and the percentage of the distributions made to play- ers in the total amount of all bets for each gaming machine, each gaming table connected with the sys- tem, and remote gambling at any moment of time. This is important from a gambling tax perspective. 4.7 Application Timing The decision to issue an activity licence, or refuse to, must be made within four months of the receipt of
all the necessary documents and information but not later than six months after receipt of the application. From the authors’ practice, a well-prepared applica- tion may secure the licence within just one month. As to step two, the operating permit, the decision shall be made within two months but not later than four months after receipt of the application for the oper- ating permit. Again, a well-prepared application will The state fee for applying for an activity licence is set at EUR47,940 (games of chance), EUR31,960 (toto/ sports betting), and EUR3,200 (games of skill). The state fee for an operating licence is EUR3,200 (regardless of type). The state fee for reviewing a lottery operating permit is EUR640. 4.9 Ongoing Annual Fees There are no annual fees. Once the licence needs to be renewed, the same fees apply as for a new one. 4.10 Personal Licensing result in a fast process. 4.8 Application Fees Individuals associated with the gambling operators are not licensed in Estonia. The persons occupying the managing bodies and persons holding or wishing to acquire a qualified holding in a gambling opera- tor must show they are fit and proper by submitting certain documents and information to the regulator for authorisation, either as part of the activity licence application or prior to being appointed as a member of the managing body or acquiring a qualified holding, as applicable. Before acquiring a qualifying holding (any direct or indirect holding in the share capital of a company organising gambling which represents 10% or more) in a gambling operator, or increasing their sharehold- ing exceeding 20%, 30% or 50%, a person shall sub- mit the following information to the regulator: • the acquirer’s name, place of residency, and date of birth/personal identification code;
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