Swiss Lawmakers Currently Examining iGaming Bill

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Tuesday, November 10th, 2015 | Written by Charles Washington

Switzerland looks poised to join a number of other European countries in allowing legal online gambling, with a bill having been introduced in the Swiss parliament in Bern last month. The bill is currently being examined by lawmakers, and those familiar with politics in the country feel that there is a good chance the piece of legislation will pass. The bill is also supported by the country’s 21 licensed land-based casinos, and as an official statement from the Swiss Federation of Casinos (CDCM) explains:

“We support the idea of expanding the current license. Online is not a new market: it’s just a new platform for distributing an offer that’s already available. It targets the same clients and it meets the same needs of the traditional games.”

Current State of iGaming in Switzerland

At this time, all forms of online gambling are illegal in Switzerland. However, the country is well aware that many residents of the European country continue to gamble online and participate in other forms of online gambling activities, using offshore sites. As a result, the proposed legislation advocates enabling Switzerland to benefit from what the country believes is millions of francs that are being funneled into the pockets of illegal offshore operators.

A Move to Support Swiss Casinos

In other countries, moves to offer online gambling have been seen as competition for casinos, but in the case of Switzerland, the move is actually to help land-based casinos survive. Since 2007, the 21 casinos in the country have seen a 30 percent decrease in revenues with the industry now losing an estimated 300 million francs every year. The Swiss Federation of Casinos is largely in favor of the gambling bill, although it has criticized the fact that it is not meant to go to into effect until 2019, stating that casinos need the relief the bill would provide much sooner. A further bone of contention, however, are calls by the CDCM to only allow land based casinos operators to be granted iGaming licenses. As a CDCM statement explains:

“We believe that current brick-and-mortar licensees casino games should not be ‘punished’ for the fact that they have respected the rules that currently forbid them to run operations online.”

What the Bill Would Change

Here are some of the details of the proposed legislation:

– Under the law, the 21 casinos in Switzerland would be permitted to launch sites for online gambling and poker. It remains to be seen,however, whether the country will permit international poker networks to form partnerships with existing land-based casinos.

– The law would make it legal for people to play poker for low stakes limits outside of casinos on private property. There is no word yet as to what the maximum stakes will be if the law passes, although it has been suggested that the amount should at least be seen as meaningful. As one anonymous poker player told Le Matin news outlet:

“The amount must relate to reality, for example the price of a decent concert. If the limit is too low, say between 30 and 50 francs, that will reignite cheating and clandestine activity.”

– One very popular aspect of the law among both players and casinos is the abolishing of Switzerland’s gambling tax on winnings. If the law passes, casino winnings will no longer be taxable. Although this will result in 30 to 90 million francs of lost revenue for the country and for the cantons that make up Switzerland, Swiss lawmakers hope that it will encourage more people to gamble, leading to more online poker players and more players at casinos. The idea is that the increased playing will provide more revenue for the federal and canton governments in the long run.

– The legislation will put into place new requirements to prevent money laundering and fraud both with online and casino gaming.

– At this time, it is not known whether the Swiss online gambling sites will pool players from elsewhere in the world. There are some concerns that without allowing collaboration with other poker networks, there may not be enough liquidity for the online poker market to be truly profitable.

Prospects Ahead

Swiss residents and the rest of the world will have to keep a close eye on Bern to see if the piece of legislation succeeds. In case of a positive outcome, however, the country would do well to heed the advice of the Swiss Federation of Casinos, which has warned that waiting until 2019 to implement the bill would be “far too late”.