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The NGA’s reliability test

Posted on 28 October 2020 by Gaming & gambling

At the end of September, the Netherlands Gambling Authority (“NGA”) published a preliminary overview of the documents that will have to be submitted with an application for a Dutch licence for the provision of remote games of chance (remote gambling licence). The government’s current prognosis is that it will be possible for these applications to be submitted as of 1 March 2021. The preliminary overview states which documents must be submitted, and which requirements these documents must meet. One of the topics of the overview concerns the “reliability” of the licence applicant. Licence applicants will have to demonstrate that they are a reliable party. If the NGA is not convinced of this, their application will be rejected, according to Article 31i of the Remote Gambling Act. But on what basis is the NGA going to make this assessment. In other words, what will the regulator be looking at?

An answer to these questions can be found in a document recently published by the NGA (as part of the aforementioned preliminary overview of the necessary documentation for a remote gambling licence application): the reliability form. With this draft document, the NGA gives interested parties an insight into the questions it is likely to ask in the context of the reliability test accompanying the licence application.

On the basis of a first reading of the reliability form, the following can be stated:

  • The NGA will conduct an extensive investigation to determine whether a licence applicant is reliable enough to obtain a remote gambling licence. This research does not only concern the applicant itself, but also its shareholders, directors and policymakers;
  • Applicants will first have to get started themselves to assess which legal entities and natural persons in their corporate group will be part of this reliability investigation;
  • Subsequently, applicants will have to collect all necessary information with regard to the legal persons and natural persons that are relevant in the context of the test. This concerns antecedents of a criminal, administrative and tax nature. For example, criminal convictions, fines and non-compliance with payment obligations.

In view of the scale of this exercise, all interested parties are advised to start preparing their licence application sooner rather than later. Taking note of the reliability form is an essential part of this.

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