SBC News Voice of the Sports Betting Industry
UK betting operator Ladbrokes Plc has confirmed that it will no longer accept wagers from Russia, Finland, Portugal and Romania following a 2014 regulatory operational review.
The operator sent a conformation to its customer base that it would no longer service or accept traffic from the countries, due to changes in European and UK online gambling legislation which the betting firm wished to comply with.
The withdrawal continues Ladbrokes corporate focus on concentrating it’s betting and gaming services within Europe’s regulated markets. 2014 has seen Ladbrokes withdraw its services from multiple European jurisdictions including Hungary, Norway and Switzerland.
The operator took the decision of withdrawing from the four mentioned Jurisdictions following a regulatory review which took on-board the current legal contexts and local advice with regards to online gambling services in the states
The four states are currently reviewing their online gambling regulatory frameworks. Ladbrokes did not comment on whether they would re-enter the markets, should the European states offer regulated market conditions.
Throughout 2014 Russia has issued severe warning to operators it deemed to have breached it online gambling regulations by advertising to Russian Consumers.
Portugal and Romania are set to disclose new online gambling frameworks in 2015. Finland have stated that its gambling activity will continue to be controlled by its licensed gambling monopolies.
