Members of the public trust the UK gaming industry’s ability to handle their personal information less than any other business sector – despite having no recorded data protection blunders, new research suggests.

The news that Madrid passed new regulatory laws in December 2006 is of considerable interest to parties looking to expand their operations in Spain, especially to those in the online sector. Madrid has already issued 4 licences authorizing the opening of betting shops within the Community, where players will be allowed to place bets on any kind of event, including sports. According to the latest Ministry of Interior gaming report, in 2007 Madrid had the highest gaming turnover in all Spain. 

Serbian gaming operators are asking the country’s government to update slot regulatory requirements to allow machines manufactured by leading international companies, and certified by established testing labs, to be imported into Serbia.

A lackluster campaign to bring a resort casino to Maine’s ski country has received a jolt of new energy, with a Nevada developer taking the reins. In a bid to win over voters before a statewide referendum next month, The Olympia Group issued a report this week predicting the new gambling venue would create hundreds of new jobs and bring in tens of millions in new taxes.

Plaintiffs seeking $5m compensation from PartyGaming over alleged failures to prevent player collusion in online poker rooms are appealing an Ohio District Court judge’s decision to dismiss their case on the grounds that PartyGaming’s own terms and conditions specify such legal action should be brought before a court at the company’s corporate headquarters in Gibraltar.

As the economic downturn tightens its grip, casino revenues across much of the US continue to wilt and fear of further deterioration has led at least one regulatory body to postpone a looming smoking ban.

Although casinos remain prohibited in Mexico, huge growth is predicted in the lottery and betting markets following the Supreme Court’s decision in January 2007 to uphold the constitutionality of a regulation that gave the Government the right to issue permits for remote betting centers and bingo parlours. A cross-party subcommittee has been established to draft a new gaming law for Mexico that would replace the current 1947 Federal Gaming and Raffles Law. However, it has not been decided if the new law will authorize the installation of Vegas-style casinos in Mexico.  

Spanish gaming group Codere has confirmed to the Madrid Stock Exchange that deadlocked talks between majority shareholders to resolve their debt obligations to former investors by the end of October could trigger the sale of the 71 percent equity held by the Martínez Sampedro family. But while speculation rages about potential buyers, analysts do not believe a sale can occur in the current financial climate.

In an exclusive interview with GamblingCompliance, Armando García, chairman of a newly formed gaming committee within the Mexican Congress, says that proposals for a comprehensive reform of Mexico’s principal 1947 gambling law are likely to be voted on before the middle of 2009. A decision on whether the project will authorize Las Vegas-style casinos has yet to be taken, however.

The Monticello Grand, a joint venture between Sun International and Austrian gaming group Novomatic, has opened near Santiago de Chile to become South America’s largest casino ahead of the scheduled opening of the Casino de Rosario complex in Argentina in mid-2009.

In 2007 Peru took steps to legislate against and regulate its illegal gambling industry. As a result it has received 700 new licence applications from gaming operators. However, until this date only 280 new venues have been authorised. Casinos and slot machine operators obtained gaming revenues of US$304m in 2007 and are expecting  to reach US$455m for 2008. With 2 million tourists expected to visit Peru this year, international operators are already assessing new business opportunities in this jurisdiction.  

Spanish gaming group Codere has confirmed to the Madrid Stock Exchange that deadlocked talks between majority shareholders to resolve their debt obligations to former investors by the end of October could trigger the sale of the 71 percent equity held by the Martínez Sampedro family. But while speculation rages about potential buyers, analysts do not believe a sale can occur in the current financial climate.

Jamaican Prime Minister Bruce Golding has reassured local business groups that a government commission is being established to regulate casinos on the Caribbean island.

Bookmakers will be taking bets across 28 sports during this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing, but track and field will provide the highest profile markets. Yet while the sport’s governing body, the IAAF, drafted a betting ban for athletes earlier this year, the sport’s relationship with betting is historically ambivalent, and it tolerates both betting sponsorship and fantasy league games.

A judge in the case being brought against BetonSports and Gary Kaplan has denied a motion to dismiss their indictments based on the United States' violation of the WTO’s General Agreement on Trade in Services.

Gambling in Israel has undergone major changes in the last decade. In the past, loopholes concerning the complete ban on casinos were exploited by using floating casinos or by establishing venues in Palestinian Territories. Online gambling was deemed illegal in 2007 and a new legislative measure aims to create a blacklist of websites that are blocked from access in the country. An ambitious tourism project to be built along a canal in the Arava Valley may see the return of casinos to the region.

Hong Kong and Macau can now be added to the list of countries where Neteller will no longer process online gaming-related transactions, according to an email that the payment processor has sent to its customers. The two Chinese special administrative regions join the US, Turkey, Canada and Israel, as countries where Neteller has withdrawn its services.

Bookmakers will be taking bets across 28 sports during this summer’s Olympic Games in Beijing, but track and field will provide the highest profile markets. Yet while the sport’s governing body, the IAAF, drafted a betting ban for athletes earlier this year, the sport’s relationship with betting is historically ambivalent, and it tolerates both betting sponsorship and fantasy league games.

The long process of shaping new rules to regulate online gambling in South Africa is approaching its final stages, but fears that political turmoil in the country’s ruling ANC party may delay or derail the process are unfounded, according to a leading South African lawyer. But with taxes and fees still to be determined, operators may find themselves facing high costs and even higher regulatory hurdles.

Comments made last week by a government official indicate the Cape Verde islands are planning to put in place a legal framework for a casino industry by the end of the year. The islands, closely linked with Portugal, also hope to encourage investment from Macau.

South Africa’s gaming industry has come a long way since post-apartheid legal reforms authorised the implementation of casinos. With 34 venues accounting for 86 percent of gambling revenues, the casino industry has reached maturity. President Thabo Mbeki approved amendments to the Gambling Act in July 2008 that pave the way for online gambling to become legal in the country.

Gambling ministers in New South Wales and Victoria have jointly confirmed they will reform local legislation to allow corporate bookmakers licensed elsewhere in Australia to advertise their services in the country’s two largest states. The announcement comes after a landmark victory for Betfair Australia in an Australian High Court case earlier this year.

The president of the government-owned gaming company Pagcor has indicated that the mooted Manila Bay casino development is now cleared to go ahead, and a UK-based casino operator this week also signed agreements to go ahead with a casino in the Philippine resort of Puerto Princesa, but with some regulatory hurdles cleared, economic ones still remain.

One cannot look at the future of gaming in Singapore without consideration of the two multi billion dollar integrated resorts that are due to commence operation at the end of this decade. Despite a history of strict control, gambling in Singapore also consists of a healthy racing industry along with lottery, sports betting and fruit machines in private clubs.