HGC requires disclosure for key services and personnel

The Hellenic Gaming Commission (HGC) has announced to all legal entities and interested parties that it has begun to accept submissions to register key personnel, suppliers and services for its licensing procedure. 

The HGC is allowed to expand its licensing process to cover further applicant information following the European Commission’s approval of amendments and controls submitted by the Greek Ministry of Finance at the start of the year.

Despite changes, the HGC has affirmed that it will maintain two separate B2C licences for online sportsbook and games of chance (online poker and casino).

As part of its regulatory overhaul, the HGC has been instructed to expand licensing requirements to cover key operational and management remits.

Parties that have applied for Greek B2C licences must fulfil ‘suitability licensing’ disclosures in relation to their shareholders, management, manufacturers, technicians and certification bodies.

The HGC maintained that its new licensing regime will apply a €3 million licence for sportsbooks, while games of chance will be covered by a €2 million fee – with each licence valid for a seven-year period.

Closing March trading, the Greek government terminated its ’transitional window’ which had been in place since 2011 as a ‘legal measure’ to allow 24 operators to continue servicing Greece’s online gambling marketplace under a ‘temporary status’.

All existing Greek operators have confirmed that they have submitted applications to HGC to continue operating within the country – taxed at a 35% gross gaming revenue rate on top of further corporation charges.

The HGC added that unlicensed operators deemed to have targeted Greece illegally will not be allowed to apply for licensing prior to a 12 month period following the market relaunch.