UK Bookmaker William Hill Bows Out of Romanian Gambling Market

Effective June 2, 2015, all William Hill gambling products, and all related promotional and marketing materials will cease to be available in Romania’s gambling market. This was the message conveyed by the UK bookmaker’s missive to its Romania-based customers and affiliate marketers, following the gambling company’s decision to withdraw its Romania-facing operations, citing the latest developments in the country’s gambling regulations as the primary reason.

The statement though hinted of possibilities that the decision is temporary, stating confidence that there will be opportunities of working with their Rumanian affiliates in the future. Still, the latter group received specific instructions to remove all banners and all forms of promotional materials related to William Hill’s betting and gaming operations, including SMS/promotional text messages. Local reports confirmed that all gambling activities pertaining to Romania-based customers have been suspended, although William Hill account holders can still sign-in to withdraw their account balances.

Ladbrokes, another important UK bookmaker, made the decision to exit the Romania market in January, before the country’s amended gambling laws went into effect last February 2015. Last year, many had expected Ladbrokes to apply for a Romanian license under the country’s new tax regime. However, such expectations did not come into fruition.  Accordingly, the Romanian government upped the licensing fees from RON 400K to RON 448K.

Back then, William Hill did not make a decision to withdraw, despite the proposed amendments to the licensing fees and gaming tax impositions. Many surmise that the most recent amendments posed as “the last straw that broke the camel’s back” so to speak, particularly the country’s collection of the so-called Retrospective Tax, imposed on all remote operators who have been operating in Romania without licence during the past years.

Retrospective Taxes are back taxes in non-technical language. It denote that in order for William Hill to secure approval for a Romanian gambling licence, the UK bookmaker must first pay back taxes for revenue gained since it first started offering its products and services in Romania. Accordingly, the government is seeking tax settlement for at least 20 per cent on all revenue realised by William Hill from Romanian players, as far back as 2009.

Remote online gambling operators have until the end of 2015 to comply with all new licensing requirements imposed by the National Gambling Office, as conditions for approval of their Romanian gambling licence application.

Other Key Licensing Conditions Imposed by the Recently Enacted Gambling Law in Romania

Aside from the Retrospective Taxes, the new gambling laws require Romania-licensed operators to:

• Maintain safe harbor and a Romania-based mirror server, if the remote operator is to maintain the main gaming server in other EU jurisdictions.
• Offer gambling products and services that meet the primary requirements and standards prescribed by laws governing the country’s gambling market. Such laws include the amended taxation covering land-based casino games, poker games hosted by poker clubs, online betting exchange transactions, tombola games, and short-term gambling activities held in resorts; as well as fresh games or combinations online and offline gambling games as delineated by Romania’s amended gambling laws.
• Actively participate, including contributing financially, in carrying out activities designed to prevent adverse gambling behavior, underage gambling-and harms posed to persons susceptible to gambling addiction. Their obligations include creating a foundation that will ensure compliance with measures that will instill socially responsible gambling games that meet the standards of the European Committee.