Dutch regulator unveils new fine policy for licensed operators
Overhauled system includes penalties of up to €2m for the most severe offences as KSA aims to become “increasingly professional as an organisation”
The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has released its new general fine policy for licensed operators in the market, with the regulator’s chief insisting the new model will provide “clarity”.
The framework is separate to the fines the regulator already has in place for illegal online operators and the illegal use of gaming machines and terminals.
As per the new guidelines, financial punishments dished out to operators will be split into five categories depending on severity.
Category one violations will carry a basic fine of €500, category two offences come with a €10,000 punishment, while operators guilty of category three offences start with a €100,000 penalty.
Category four violations carry a basic €500,000 fine, while the most severe offences, category five, come with a standard €2m penalty.
The category five fines will only be issued for violations of the country’s Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act.
For any non-money laundering category four offences, the KSA can also impose a fine of 3% of the offender’s gross turnover, so as to “increase the effectiveness of the fine”.
The regulator will also retain the right to increase the penalty beyond the basic amounts due to factors such as the magnitude and duration of the particular violation.
The KSA will also take into account whether the offending operator has suitably accepted responsibility for its actions, the possibility of whether the violation led to any integrity risks and any negative consequences experienced by third parties.
The KSA retains the right to reduce or increase the basic fine amount by a maximum of 50%, “if the seriousness of the violation justifies such a reduction or increase”.
The new framework was officially published in the Dutch government’s Gazette today, 2 January.
KSA chairman Michel Groothuizen said: “The KSA is becoming increasingly professional as an organisation.
“After the opening of the online market in 2021, we were given a new category of licence holders. In 2022, we imposed a first fine on a licence holder.
“We have now gained enough experience to arrive at a well-considered fine policy for both licence holders and other parties. This creates clarity for the parties under our supervision and hopefully motivates them even more to avoid fines.”
The last operator to be fined under the old policy was Unibet in December 2024, after the KSA determined that the operator had accepted bets from a player who had self-excluded.