Victor Chandler, Interwetten and bet90 are now among the three new additions to the list of 15 operators licensed by The Ministry of the Interior of Schleswig Holstein in Germany.
It’s not an easy process to get a license in Germany as experienced by Betfair. Even though these companies have been approved, Betfair recently has pulled out of the market as they are challenging the current strict guidelines and limitations set out by Schleswig Holstein.
Schleswig Holstein minister of the interior Andreas Breitner said that the territory sets “exemplary standards for security and transparency of gambling,” adding that regulation eliminates “the potential for anonymous games and money laundering at the same time.”
One real sticky point with these approved licenses is that two of them (Victor Chandler and bet90) are licensed in Gibraltar and Malta. This could rise up and become a problem later as labeled by the new government as “poor” legislation, which was pushed through by the previous coalition government.
Ever since the newly elected coalition government has been in office, they have been trying to repeal the online gaming legislation and line it up with Germany’s Interstate Gambling treaty, indicating the need to take the time to change the existing legal framework.
The German licensing process for applications has been extended until January 21, 2013.