On December 16, the parliament of Finland (Suomen eduskunta) adopted the Lottery Act on its first reading. The legislation clamps down on offshore gaming operators and helps preserve the existing monopoly of Veikkaus.
The law will require being passed on a second reading before it can be forwarded to the president and become law.
Among its provisions are payment blocking for any operators other than Veikkaus and the requirement of mandatory ID for all forms of gaming. Advertisements of gaming would also be curtailed, with ads for slot machines completely prohibited.
Some critics of the bill argue that payment blocking violates Finland’s constitution.
Finland’s Constitutional Committee has asserted that there should be an inquiry into what it calls the country’s “practically broken” monopoly. It also recommends that payment blocking should only apply to payments to operators rather than payments from operators to players.
