The gaming Authority of the Netherlands, Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has required that a new “General Policy of Fines” govern Dutch gaming licenses as of January 1, 2025.
According to the KSA, the New General Policy of Fines seeks to guarantee that fines are suitable and function as both preventative and punitive measures. It aims to encourage adherence to gambling laws and discourage infractions.
The KSA has expanded the range of penalties to include particular infractions identified by the Netherlands Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act (Wwft) and the Remote Gambling Act (KOA).
With basic fines ranging from €500 in Category 1 to €2,000,000 in Category 5, the new fine regime will be implemented throughout five categories.
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Only Wwft infractions will be subject to Category 5 penalty. To increase the impact of the fine on the infringing license, the KSA may further apply a turnover-related fine equal to 3% of the offender’s gross turnover for non-Wwft violations falling under Category 4.
The KSA will give a detailed explanation of how the fine amount was determined in order to guarantee openness in its punishments.
In the first step, the KSA classifies the fine according to the kind of infraction. Step 2 takes into account “adjustments for recidivism,” which permits the fine to be quadrupled in the event that the license holder has already committed the same infraction.
The KSA will evaluate the severity of the infraction in Step 3, taking into account the effects on customer service, carelessness, and system malfunctions. Step 4, in which the KSA assesses the license’s guilt, comes next. If the KSA considers the offenses to be careless, the penalties can be raised by 50%.
Step 4 scales the fine proportionately based on the offender’s gross turnover. Consolidated turnover may also be taken into account for firms that are part of corporate groups.
License holders may lower fines by up to 25% in Step 5 by presenting unusual circumstances or mitigating factors, such as voluntarily reporting or corrective activities. To guarantee overall proportionality, several sanctions for comparable infractions will also be examined.
The fairness and proportionality of the fine are the main topics of steps seven through nine. By guaranteeing that fines at least equal any monetary gain resulting from the infraction, the framework discourages criminals from making money off of their crimes. To prevent unnecessary hardship, financial capacity (Step 8) is also taken into account, with alternatives for reductions or payment arrangements when needed.
The procedure places a high priority on prevention, openness, and proportionality in order to discourage future infractions and provide equity for criminals with different financial backgrounds.
The KSA Chairman, Michel Groothuizen, supported the new policy, saying, “The KSA is becoming a more professional organization.” We added a new class of license holders in 2021 when the internet market opened. We fined a license holder for the first time in 2022.
Now that we have enough experience, we can design a thoughtful fine policy for license holders and other stakeholders. This gives the parties under our supervision clarification and, ideally, further encourages them to stay out of trouble.
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