Malta’s gambling regulator is seeking industry feedback on its plans to dramatically overhaul the country’s Gaming Legal Framework.

This week, the Malta Gaming Authority (MGA) published a White Paper intended to ‘Future Proof’ the nation’s gambling industry. The primary goal is to replace Malta’s current gambling legislation with a new Gaming Act that will (hopefully) reduce “unnecessary regulatory burdens” while allowing the MGA to strengthen supervision “on the areas which present a higher risk profile.”

Among the White Paper’s proposed changes are replacing the current multi-tiered license system with a system encompassing just two types of licenses: business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B). License duration would be doubled to 10 years from the current five.

The MGA is proposing to streamline taxation into “one flow with two main layers,” while B2B licensees would be exempted from gaming tax in a bid to boost Malta’s appeal as the hub for online gambling service providers.

Gaming operator Olympic Entertainment Group (OEG) is facing a fresh threat to its bottom line after Latvia’s government announced plans to hike gambling taxes by nearly one-third next year.

On Thursday, local media reported on Latvia’s ongoing tax reform plans, which now include proposals to hike gambling taxes by 30%. The Finance Ministry is seeking to boost the annual tax on electronic gaming machines from €3,204 to €4,164, while annual levies on gaming tables would rise from €18k to €23,400.

The Ministry said the taxes, which would apply to 13 operators licensed to conduct gaming in Latvia, would provide additional tax revenue of €8.25m in 2018 and €9m per year after 2018.

Latvia is OEG’s largest market, and OEG was already facing a hit after the Riga City Council voted this spring to ban gambling halls in the center district of the nation’s capital city. OEG’s Latvian operations span 54 gaming venues, seven of which will be forced to close their doors in the coming years as their current licenses expire.

Online gambling technology provider NetEnt is enjoying double-digit gains in revenue and profits thanks to its ongoing expansion in the UK and Italy.

On Thursday, the Sweden-based NetEnt reported revenue rising 15.5% year-on-year to SEK 407m (US $48.6m) in the three months ending June 30. Operating profit rose 18.5% to SEK 145m while profit after tax gained nearly 18% to SEK 134m as margins improved nearly a full point to 35.7%.

Figures for the first half of 2017 were similarly buoyant, with revenue up 15.4% to SEK 805m, operating profit up 12.2% to SEK 281m and profit after tax rising 9.6% to SEK 258m. In May, NetEnt shared SEK 540m of this bounty with shareholders via its automatic redemption program.

NetEnt CEO Per Eriksson (pictured) credited the solid report card to the continued strength of the company’s mobile gaming products, which accounted for over half of revenue in the quarter. Eriksson also credited ongoing growth in the regulated online markets of Italy and the UK, with the latter country maintaining its status as the company’s top geographical breadwinner.

The government of Ireland has approved a legislation that will change the age limit for all forms of gambling.

On Tuesday, ministers from the Irish cabinet approved the new Courts and Civil Liabilities (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill, paving the way for the modernization of the Gaming and Lotteries Act 1956, The Journal Ireland reported.

The current Gaming and Lotteries Act allows 16-year-olds to enter carnivals, circuses, amusement halls and arcades, which may contain slot machines, funfairs or sport betting events. But the Courts and Civil Liabilities bill amends this legislation and sets the uniform gambling age limit to 18.

The legislation also establishes clearer guidelines on how to govern sporting club lotteries and raffles, as well as increasing the stakes and prize pot limits.

The man behind the website that posted the identities of indebted gamblers in Macau has been found guilty of violating the special administrative region’s privacy laws.

Charlie Choi, chairman of the Macau Gaming Information Association, has also been found guilty of failing to comply with an order from the Judiciary Police to delete the indebted gamblers’ information from the “Wonderful World” website, Inside Asian Gaming reported.

Choi is sentenced to six months in jail with two years’ probation, according to the report.

The ruling stemmed from a case in 2014, when Choi was charged with breaching data protection laws for operating the Wonderful World website, which debuted a year earlier. The website featuring names and photos of around 500 alleged deadbeat gamblers from various countries, along with the amounts they owed and personal details including phone numbers, plus colorfully pejorative adjectives like “rogue” or “robber.” The site also offered “bounties” to anyone whose actions led to the repayment of any of the listed individuals’ debts.

Installing a central monitoring system in all gambling pay-out machines in South Africa may be put on hold due to questions of legality on the issuance of the multi-billion rand contract.

Business Day reported that the R2.8 billion (US$212 million) contract to be issued by South Africa’s National Gambling Board (NGB) for the controversial national central electronic monitoring system has been put under intense legal scrutiny.

Many contend that the NGB may be able to tender government contracts with the approval or blessing of the whole board or CEO. The NGB has not had a board or CEO since 2014.

It would be recalled that Trade and Industry Minister Rob Davies dissolved the NGB board due to allegations of corruption involving the monitoring system.

The New Jersey Casino Control Commission has given a thumbs-up to a plan that would lease operations of Caesar Entertainment Operating Co.’s (CEOC) properties to a newly-formed operating company.

The Press of Atlantic reported that the state commission has approved the bankruptcy plan of Caesars Entertainment on Wednesday, including the issuance of a casino license for the newly formed company.

Before the New Jersey commission gave its approval, the plan was hammered out through a very contentious Chapter 11 bankruptcy process. It’s been over two years since CEOC filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.

The CEOC has earlier proposed to split the cash-strapped casino operator into two entities: a casino management firm and a real estate investment trust (REIT) to own the land on which CEOC’s casinos stand. The real estate company would then lease operations to a newly created company.

Florida developer Glenn Straub’s eyes might be gleaming right now after New York-based private equity firm tendered a $220 million offer to the shuttered Revel Hotel and Casino.

The offer of the still unnamed equity firm is quite hefty since the $2 billion facility at the north end of the Atlantic City boardwalk was bought by Straub for $82 million in bankruptcy court in August 2015.

According to the Press of Atlantic City, the firm made the offer to purchase the resort in the last 10 days through Digital Launch.  The offer was reportedly tendered through Straub’s lawyers in Florida.

Straub, for his part, quickly shot down the report saying that no one has approached him yet over the sale of his shuttered facility, which he renamed TEN.

Continuing on with my recent theme of Bitcoin and blockchain, this edition of Becky’s Affiliated is dedicated to the Peersplays blockchain and how it has the potential to revolutionize the betting industry as we know it.

I spoke with the senior management of the non-profit organization Peerplays Blockchain Standards Association (PBSA) to find out how much progress has been made since the blockchain’s recent launch and why the gambling industry should take notice.

The Peerplays blockchain went live on June 6, 2017 and according to Michael Maloney, Director of Intelligence at PBSA, things are moving along smoothly for the Peerplays blockchain community.

“All PPY tokens have been successfully allocated in the genesis block as described in the Peerplays Bulletin dated February 21, 2017.  The Peerplays blockchain now has thousands of PPY token holders, and over 10,000 unique addresses”, Maloney shared.