ESTONIA Law and Practice Contributed by: Karolina Ullman, Triin Kaurson, Linell Raud and Felix Raidmäe, NJORD Law Firm
7.2 Gambling Management Tools In addition to HAMPI (see 7.1 RG Requirements ), the gaming operators may also propose precautionary measures. Some of the key management tools used by the gambling operators are as follows: • timers; • reality checks; • timeouts; • self-assessment tests; and • supportive insurance (developed to prevent prob- lem gaming by helping customers to get the pro- fessional counselling they need). 8. Anti-Money Laundering (AML) 8.1 AML Legislation The relevant legislation in terms of AML is the Esto- nian Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Pre- vention Act from 2017 with amendments (see 8.2 AML Requirements ). The legislation has implemented the Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Directive. The supervisory authority in this respect is the Finan- cial Intelligence Unit, which is a governmental author- ity under the Ministry of Finance. There are no guide- lines issued specifically for the gambling sector. The Financial Intelligence Unit has the right to forward data that it has registered, as well as analyses and assessments, to the Tax and Customs Board for pro- ceedings related to a gambling activity licence. 8.2 AML Requirements Changes to the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Prevention Act entered into force in late 2023, which significantly increased the potential pen- alties for obliged entities, including gambling opera- tors, for breaches against the requirements of the Act. The Financial Intelligence Unit has let the operators know that they intend to place significant focus on gambling operators in the next few years and expect full co-operation.
gal remote gambling servers. There are currently over 1,800 sites listed, and the list is constantly updated.
7. Responsible Gambling (RG), Also Known as Safer Gambling (SG) 7.1 RG Requirements HAMPI contains a list of persons that have self-restrict- ed their playing of games. The purpose of maintain- ing the list is to provide persons with an opportunity to limit their gambling in order to mitigate the poten- tial negative social and economic consequences of gambling to the persons themselves and to society. A person may choose which type of game they are going to restrict. It is not possible to file a request for setting restrictions for others; for example, a family member or a friend. It is possible to set restrictions on games of chance (land-based and online), toto, and classical lotteries. The restrictions do not apply to instant lottery (ie, scratch lottery tickets). The holder of the list of persons with restrictions on gambling is the Estonian Tax and Customs Board. The operators must check whether a person has listed themselves in the HAMPI upon every time before allowing access to their service. Before allowing a player to play a game for the first time, the gambling operator shall conspicuously present the opportunity to set an upper limit for the amount that the player will be ready to lose as a result of gambling with the given operator during a week or month. An operator is prohibited from accepting bets that may increase the loss to a player beyond the limit set by the player. The limit must be enforced across all of the operator’s websites and platforms. The gambling operator must ensure that a clear warn- ing is presented to the player regarding the addictive nature of gambling and that a reference is made to the contact details of organisations that assist gambling addicts. The player must be constantly shown clear informa- tion about how long they have been playing and must be able to see the details of their bets and winnings.
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