BELGIUM Law and Practice Contributed by: Pieter Paepe and Christoph de Preter, EDSON
7.2 Gambling Management Tools There is a wide variety of measures that aim to cre- ate a safe and responsible gambling environment. For gaming machines, there are detailed rules on maxi- mum stakes, losses and gains. The average hourly loss is also regulated – for example, gaming machines in casinos must have a theoretical redistribution per- centage of at least 84%. Only gaming machines with an average hourly loss not exceeding EUR25 are allowed in class II gaming establishments. Other essential measures to protect players are EPIS and mandatory age requirements. Some of these measures are discussed in 7.1 RG Requirements . Other measures include the following: • all advertising for online games of chance must mention the minimum age requirements to partici- pate; and • online licensees must offer the option of self-exclu- sion and use notifications and pop-up windows to inform players of the potential risks of participating in online games of chance. A recent legislative proposal that has yet to be adopt- ed is introducing additional responsible gaming obli- gations for operators to monitor and prevent addictive behaviours from their players. 8. Anti-Money Laundering (AML) 8.1 AML Legislation The key legislation is the Law of 18 September 2017 on preventing money laundering and terrorist financ- ing (the “AML Law”). The Act of 20 July 2020, which amends the AML Law, implements Directive (EU) 2018/843 (the “Fifth Anti-Money Laundering Direc- tive”) into Belgian law. The amended AML Law took
of URLs for websites offering unlicensed games of chance in Belgium. This updated list is published in the Belgian Official Gazette, and the listed websites are reported to internet service providers, so that they can “block access to them as soon as possible”. The joint exploitation of different classes of online gaming licences on the same domain name and the related URLs is now prohibited by the Gaming Act. 7. Responsible Gambling (RG), Also Known as Safer Gambling (SG) 7.1 RG Requirements Persons below the age of 21 are prohibited from par- ticipating in games of chance and betting. The same age restrictions apply for online games of chance and betting. The Gaming Act contains additional prohibi- tions on particular persons (eg, magistrates) access- ing casinos and gaming arcades. The EPIS is a database containing the names of excluded and self-excluded persons. Online operators must consult the EPIS database before allowing cus- tomers to play. Online licence holders must impose compulsory deposit limits and offer the option of tem- porary self-exclusion. They must also use notifications and pop-up windows to inform players of the potential risks of participating in online games of chance. All advertising for games of chance and betting must also include a warning message and the minimum legal age to participate in games of chance and betting. Online licence holders must also refuse any interven- tion by electronic payment systems authorising the use of a credit card by the player as a transfer method. Giving credit or a loan and engaging in a financial or other transaction in casinos to pay for a stake or a loss is prohibited, except via credit and debit cards. However, payment by credit card is not allowed in class II, III and IV gaming establishments or for online games of chance and betting. It is also prohibited to have automated teller machines in class I, II, III and IV gaming establishments.
effect on 15 August 2020. 8.2 AML Requirements
The AML Law applies to “all natural and legal persons operating one or more games of chance, except those natural and legal persons meant in Articles 3 and 3bis of the Gaming Act”. All gambling operators are subject to due diligence obligations, which consist of:
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