Thursday April 30,2015 : PORTUGUESE ONLINE GAMBLING LEGAL IN JUNE (Update)
It's taken almost a decade of lobbying and political debate, but legalization and regulation achieved at last.
June 28 this year will be an online gambling occasion to remember in Portugal; that's the date set for the implementation of the country's online gambling regulatory and licensing regime.
It's the culmination of almost a decade of lobbying and political debate, but on Wednesday this week the government's Secretary of State for Tourism, Adolfo Mesquita Nunes, announced the launch date and confirmed that players both within Portugal's boundaries and those outside them will be able to play on Portuguese licensed and regulated sites.
Applications for licensing from both Portugal and the international community will be entertained, Nunes confirmed.
“We are preparing everything so that on June 28 the technical control structure is operating," he said Wednesday.
"The intention is to sign up as many operators as possible, particular international ones,” Nunes said, promising that the licensing process would be thorough but swift and efficient.
Regulation and licensing for all forms of online gambling will be the responsibility of Santa Casa de Misericordia de Lisboa, the controller of all gambling in the country, and revenue for the government will be generated by selling three-year licenses and from a 15 to 30 percent tax on turnover
For the protection of players, applicants will have to lodge financial guarantees, and they will have to have local representation and use Portuguese financial institutions.
Nunes again warned that the licensed and regulated operators in Portugal will be protected by strict enforcement measures against illegal operators seeking to access Portuguese punters. These will include if necessary financial measures and the blocking of illegal websites.