Francesco, born in Rome in 1970, has a degree in Statistics. After working in marketing and ecommerce for a number of private companies, in June 2007 he moved to AAMS (now ADM), where he accomplished the reform of the regulation and the introduction of poker, casino and slots games. He is a member of the European Commission’s Expert Group on Gambling Services. The purpose of Paf Responsible Gaming Summit is to increase awareness about responsible gaming by inviting the gaming industry and its stakeholders. We wish to have an open dialogue with gambling operators, partners, academics and decision makers to learn from each other and share best practices https://www.paf.com/rgsummit2015

1. Responsible Gaming
from the Italian Regulatory
Perspective
Paf Responsible Gaming Summit
September 29th
, 2015

2. 2
AAMS – Till 30 November 2012
Part of the Ministry of Finance
Autonomous budget
Italian Gaming and Tobacco Regulator
Established on 1928 (Tobacco manufacturing)
Gaming Regulator since 2002
2,700 employees
14 Regional Offices – 60 Provincial Offices

3. 3
AAMS – From 1 December 2012
Law-Decree 95/2012: The Italian Customs Agency
and the Autonomous Administration of State Monopolies are merged.

4. 4
Organisation
Customs Area
• 9,000 employees
• Collecting and managing
customs duties
• Collecting excise duties on
production and consumption
• Dealing with appeals
procedures in the international
trade
Monopolies Area
• 2,700 employees
• Regulating and controlling the
entire gambling sector
• Combating illegal activities
• Granting “concessions” to
gambling operators and
• Monitoring of all gambling
transactions

5. 5
Italian Online Gambling Market
€m
€749m
Casino Games
Sports Betting
€725m
+2%
+2% -3%
Other games (*)
€735m
€690m
+7%
-4%
-2%
-15%
Poker
-20%
-20% +15%
€728m
+0.4%
+11%
+9%
+8%
-20%
+63%
-36%
(*) Other games: Skill Games, Betting Exchange, Bingo, Pool Betting, Horse Betting, Lotteries, Betting on virtual
sports.
-8%
+199%

6. 6
Online Gambling Tax Revenues
€m
€182m
Poker
Casino Games
Sports Betting
€182m
-16% -4%
+186%
-14%
-1% 0%
Other games (*)
€184m
€167m
+1%
-2%
-9%-8%
+11%
+70%
-36%
-24%
€165m
-9%
+19%
+8%
-17%
+2%
(*) Other games: Skill Games, Betting Exchange, Bingo, Pool Betting, Horse Betting, Lotteries, Betting on virtual
sports.

7. 7
Land-Based vs. Online in Italy 2014
GGR Tax revenues
2.3%
Land-based €16.8b
Online €0.7b
TOTALE €17.5b
Land-based €7.8b
Online €0.2b
TOTALE €8.0b

8. 8
GGR 2014 Land-based + Online

9. 9
Online Player Profile
Active monthly players
-4%

10. 10
VALIDATION
SYSTEM
Monitoring
Administrative
Management
DatabaseDATABASE
Real-Time Monitoring
LICENSEE
FRONTEND Betting Shops
Slot Machines

11. 11
What Online Games are Regulated?
Already available:
• betting on horse races (since June 2001)
• fixed odds sports betting (June 2002)
• scratch cards (“Gratta e vinci”) (November 2006)
• pool sports betting (March 2008)
• games of skill / poker tournaments (September 2008)
• “superenalotto” and “superstar” lotteries (July 2009)
• bingo (December 2009)
• cash poker (July 2011)
• casino (without “slots”) (July 2011)
• slot-machines (December 2012)
• lotto (April 2013)
• virtual sports (December 2013)
• customised markets in sports betting (September 2014)
• betting exchange (April 2014)

12. 12
2009 Reform – What’s New
– Just one “concession” for all regulated online games
– HQ/Server located in the EEA
– Not-gaming companies can now apply
– Improved consumer protection
• Dedicated bank account for players’ deposits
• Improved transparency
• Mandatory self-limitation
– Revised sanctions for licensees
– “.com” operations prohibited
– Players’ personal data communication to AAMS

13. 13
2009 Reform – Effects
Effective: July 2011
150 (updated) + 45 (new) concessions
EU-compliant regime
May 2010:
2 infringement procedures closed

14. 14
Fighting Illegal Operators
 ISP blocking
5,000+ web sites, monthly update
Easy to circumvent
Effective awareness tool
 Advertising ban for unlicensed operators
 Italian licensees must prevent Italian
residents from accessing their “.com”
products

15. 15
European Commission
Communication, 23 October 2012. Key objectives:
 Compliance of national regulatory frameworks with EU law;
 Enhancing administrative cooperation and efficient enforcement;
 Protecting consumers, minors and vulnerable groups;
 Preventing fraud and money laundering;
 Safeguarding the integrity of sports and preventing match-fixing
First Expert Group meeting: 5 December 2012

16. 16
European Commission / 2
Recommendation, 14 July 2014. Key objectives:
 Information requirements for gambling websites to ensure that
consumers are provided with sufficient information to understand
the risks related to gambling. Commercial communication
should be carried out in a responsible way.
 Rules to minimise the contact of minors with gambling,
including through advertising or promotion of gambling services.
 Operators to keep track of player behaviour and raise the alarm
if necessary.
 Ongoing support to players to prevent gambling-related
problems: tools to set spending limits, to get alerts about
winnings and losses whilst playing, and to take time out from
gambling.

17. 17
European Commission / 3
Recommendation, 14 July 2014 / Cont’d
 Players should have access to helplines they can call for
assistance about their gambling behaviour, and they should be
able to easily exclude themselves from gambling websites.
 Advertising and sponsorship of online gambling services should
be more socially responsible and transparent. For example, it
should not make unfounded statements about chances of winning,
exert pressure to gamble, or suggest that gambling resolves
social, professional, personal or financial problems.
 Member States should ensure that training is provided to
employees of online gambling operators interacting with players to
ensure they understand problem gambling issues and are able
to liaise with the players appropriately.

18. 18
Cooperation with Other Regulators
 AAMS & ARJEL agreement signed on 26 June 2011
 First example of bilateral cooperation between gaming regulators
in Europe
 Exchange of market data, sharing of best practices to enable a
more effective consumer protection
 Specific attention is given to:
– Measures to prevent problem gambling
– Blocking access of minors
– Frauds related to payment systems
– Money-laundering
– Possible liquidity sharing for multi-player games (i.e. poker, bingo)
A larger group of regulators are meeting twice a year:
Austria, Germany, Italy, France, Portugal, Spain, UK.

19. 19
Conclusions
Regulatory Cooperation
• Fewer countries
• Similar models
• Continuous communication
• Impact on daily activities
• Exchange of “good” practices
• Works better in the short run
• Small influence on national
political decisions
EC & Expert Group
• 31 countries
• Different approaches
• 4 meetings / year
• Impact on national frameworks
• Exchange of “best” practices
• Medium run effects
• High impact on national political
decisions (“recommendations”)
Higher level of
CONSUMER PROTECTION