With the Italian market being amongst the most lucrative, self-regulated market, the news that Italy has opened its door to licensees has gathered a lot of interest from European operators. With an Italian license, a licensee may target Italian users through an umbrella type license. Once acquired, the operator is guaranteed a multitude of opportunities within a safe, closed environment. According to reliable sources, applicants are still in time to submit applications as only a few operators have so far, submitted their applicatios.

Quick Facts:

• 120 licenses
• Official deadline 19th of March
• Applications awarded on a come first served basis
• Application costs € 200,000
• Umbrella license awarded
• License expiry 31st December 2022
• Game-specific technical approval
• Game-specific tax
• No corporate tax
• Open to anyone
• Fast-track available to Established EEA Operators

The Agenzia delle Dogane e dei Monopoli (Agency of Customs and Monopoly) (AAMS) has issued the tender¹ which has opened Italy’s doors for 120 online gaming licenses in the Official Journal of the European Union published on the 10th of January 2018. The deadline for the submission of license applications is the 19th of March, 2018 and their assessment will commence on a first come, first served basis, on 19th of April, 2018. The submission of an application costs EUR 200, 000.

Any company can participate in the concession award procedure; however different procedures apply to two different entity groups, with one proving to be less demanding at the start. Therefore, it is to the benefit of such a qualifying company to show evidence of the relevant qualifications as an easier start means a swifter successful application, and hence a higher chance of being amongst the first 120 online gaming licenses to be qualified through the chronically assessed list. Ultimately, however, there is no discrimination in terms of consumer-centered requirements, these are by no means mitigated.

Established EEA Operators Licensed in EEA EUR 1,500,000 in revenue over the two-year	Other Companies
Stage One – Application Stage Due-Diligence-Documents Bank Guarantee – EUR 100,000	One Stage Only Due-Diligence-Documents Bank Guarantee – EUR 1,500,000 Technical Requirements – company, through group of companies or affiliated company
Stage Two – Established EEA Operators Technical Requirements – Assessed after the issue of the license before the launch of games.

Established EEA Operators

The company must have a license awarded by the gaming authority/ regulator of the state in which the gaming operator has its registered office or the operational headquarters. The company must surpass EUR 1, 500, 000 in revenue over the two-year period preceding the date of submission of applications. This category can be further sub-divided as it includes around 40 licenses which will be issued to the existing Italian iGaming market operators, these will need to resubmit all documentation although they only require the renewal of their license.

Other Companies

This category comprises of participants who operate in sectors other than gaming, participants who operate in gaming activities offered outside the EEA and participants who operate in gaming activities offered in the EEA which did not reach the revenue capping of EUR 1, 500, 000 for the two-year period preceding the date of submission of the application. Such company must possess either itself, or through any company within its group of companies, or even though an affiliated company, a technical and infrastructural capacity compliant with AMMS’ technical requirements as evidenced by a report from AMMS’ approved auditors (see more in the section Technical Requirements). In the case of these companies, the bank or insurance guarantee, on first demand is for a duration of two years, and the amount is increased to EUR 1, 500, 000.

Due Diligence

Submission of notarized and apostilled corporate documents, certified translations of such and affidavits with UBO/s signatures.

Bank Guarantee

Can be issued by a foreign bank but it needs to be drafted according to Italian law.

Technical Requirements (aprox 3 months)

Companies must envision that at least one type of its products is to be authorized by AAMS. The product may be fixed-odds and tote betting, betting exchange, horse betting, casino, poker, skill games, bingo or pools. The requirements depend on the category of games as per the previous regime and the certification of both the platform and games is done through the ADM approved testing labs². The technical requirements are known to be stringent in comparison to those of other authorities due to the unique AAMS requirement which asks for the ‘protocols of communication’ so as to allow real-time access to the regulator. The most popular game suppliers operating in Italy would already have this in place. It would, however, be ideal certify the game account so as to not be limited to one supplier as in Italy a mix of games is necessary for competitive advantage.
For more information, please feel free to contact us via email at info@chevron-consultants.com or by phone in our offices in Germany (+4961047751000) or else in Malta (+356 277 80 156).

1) http://ted.europa.eu/TED/notice/udl?uri=TED:NOTICE:9338-2018:TEXT:EN:HTML&tabId=0
2) https://www.agenziadoganemonopoli.gov.it/portale/documents/20182/1104468/ELENCO…

Quelle: Chevron Consultants e.K.