Regulatory Expert

GVC Holdings Director of Regulatory Affairs Martin Lycka explains how 2020 events have handed the industry a crisis agenda that incumbents must accept and match with responsibility and good faith… The stakes have never been placed this high on operator conduct. ______________________ Sunday morning – end of winter. With the NHL and the NBA regular seasons entering their final quarter, …

GVC’s Director of Regulatory Affairs Martin Lycka revisits the online gambling laws in Germany and sees what the ‘sixteen kings’ have in store for the industry. ____________________ Habemus State Treaty. After years of thick black smoke, white billow has spewed out from the tiny little chimney perched on the roof of the German Gambling Chapel. The sixteen cardinals dispatched by …

In the latest of a series of columns examining international gambling legislation, GVC Holdings Director of Regulatory Affairs Martin Lycka retraces the industry’s arduous history with Dutch politics and policies…  _________________ The year was 1964. The Beatles dominated the charts, Sidney Poitier became the first Afro American actor to have won an Oscar and a Czechoslovak gymnast Vera Caslavska enchanted the world …

In the latest of a series of columns on international gambling legislation, GVC Holdings Director of Regulatory Affairs Martin Lycka dips into the rich history of Greek mythology to put the industry’s challenges this year into some sort of context. A spectre is haunting gambling Europe – the spectre of a ban on gambling related advertising. It came from Italy …

In the latest of a series of columns on international gambling legislation, GVC Holdings Director of Regulatory Affairs Martin Lycka pens a letter to the Santa of Gambling and hopes that, for a change. the industry is on the ‘good’ list.  Dear Gambling Santa, My name is Martin and I am probably a little too old to write to you. …

In the fifth of a series of columns on international gambling legislation, GVC Holdings Director of Regulatory Affairs Martin Lycka wonders what might Pelé and his footballing band of brothers think about Brazilian sports betting regulation. In an exclusive fictitious interview, we have asked Brazil’s all-time leading goal scorers for their views on the regulatory works the Brazilian government has …

In the fourth of a series of columns on international gambling legislation, GVC Holdings Director of Regulatory Affairs Martin Lycka debates the antagonistic relationship that can develop between the regulator and the industry. __________________ Operators v. Regulators, undoubtedly a top billing in the industry nowadays. Just pause and think how many times in recent past you have bumped into an …

In the third of a series of columns on international gambling legislation, GVC’s Director of Regulatory Affairs Martin Lycka ruminates on the development of the online gambling market in Germany. __________________ Once upon a time, there were sixteen kings in a land in the heart of Europe. The land’s credo was thou shalt not gamble online. Nevertheless, the kings’ subjects …