Anne Marie Caulfield, CEO of the Gambling Regulatory Authority of Ireland (GRAI), said the regulator welcomed plans by Allied Irish Bank and EBS to introduce a voluntary blocking function for gambling-related debit and credit card transactions.
In October Ireland passed a gambling regulation law, thus becoming the latest country to introduce regulation of this market.
Caulfield said: “We are engaging with the Banking Payments Federation of Ireland and directly with pillar banks to encourage other financial institutions to introduce this valuable consumer protection measure.”
The GRAI will be responsible for providing oversight for the market and will be equipped with powers to impose fines of up to 10% GGR.
Caulfield added: “I have been leading a programme team working on establishing the structures that will enable us to be an effective, fit-for-purpose, independent statutory regulator on our establishment.”
Preparations included tendering contracts in HR, communications, finance and IT, as well as training staff in procurement, corporate governance and anti-money laundering.
GRAI has also worked to develop its licensing and operational funding models to ensure it quickly becomes self-financing. Caulfield stressed that establishing a licensing regime for operators was a priority, and so the GRAI licensing team had engaged extensively with other regulators and industry bodies on the processes.
She added: “Recently we issued a call to gambling and gaming companies who are currently operating in Ireland, or who expect to do so in the future to register their interest in applying for an operating licence.
“This will help us to determine the level of applications we can expect once the new licensing regime opens in 2025. Codes of Conduct are also being developed for the sector.”
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