New report highlights KSA's strengths and shortcomings

The efficacy and efficiency of the Dutch Gaming Authority (KSA for its Dutch acronym) has been extensively reviewed in a new report commissioned by the government. The report looks at the regulator in the years between 2017 and 2021, focusing specifically on the unregulated gambling market in the country. At the time, the KSA was tasked with addressing the issue of illegal gambling, helping to root out such operations, and strengthening the country’s response to unlicensed operators.

A succession of fines was issued, and many reputable companies were targeted because they specifically featured Dutch language promotions and website UI on their platforms without a license. KSA was mainly focusing on preparing the market for the entry of the binding regulatory framework introduced by the Remote Gambling Act. Still, according to research bureau KWINK Groep, there were some stakeholders who argued that the KSA could have done more to address black market operations.

One issue stems from operators that are licensed in Malta and Curaçao and still seem to have too much clout in the Netherlands even though they do not have a license from the KSA. The report suggests that to address this problem, the KSA could consider website and payment blocking, both adopted by several jurisdictions worldwide.

Australia’s media regulator, ACMA, has been actively blocking websites, and Germany is trying to limit payment processors and websites that may be connected to the illegal gambling market. The report naturally ran with a series of recommendations that can be implemented into the regulator’s overall strategy to help it safeguard consumers.

One such thing that can be improved is the risk-based supervision procedures and a more data-based approach. The report also said that the KSA presently has enough resources to address unlicensed online gambling operations but said that the watchdog may need more resources to clamp down on the land-based black market.

KSA Chairman René Jansen commented on the findings of the report and said that the conclusions were welcomed as they allowed the watchdog to further improve its effectiveness and efficiency of the regulator. "They [the recommendations] fit in particularly well with the professionalization that the organization has already started," Jansen was cited as saying. What remains now, Jansen said, is to act in a way that allows the regulator to strategize about the next steps that will allow the KSA to fulfill its duties.

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