Vixio Wrapped: Most Read GamblingCompliance Stories Of 2024

2024 has been a busy year for the gambling compliance space — and a busy year for our Vixio customers. With our coverage spanning topics such as new market opportunities in Latin America, particularly Brazil, the new gambling law in Ireland, Finland’s plans to end its monopoly, the UAE’s new regulatory regime, and the regulatory conundrum sweepstakes are posing in the U.S., Vixio users have had plenty of insights to read and payment trends to keep up with.

In this blog, we reveal Vixio's most-read articles from 2024 — exclusive to Vixio customers only.

2024 Gambling Trends: In a Nutshell

Many Vixio customers focused on hot emerging markets like Brazil and Peru, the rapid proliferation in sweepstakes, and industry enforcements; notably those cracking down on responsible gambling, anti-money laundering (AML) and advertising requirements.

Discover the top four topics our customers — and your industry peers — stayed updated with in 2024 below:

New Markets

This year has seen the continued shift towards more regulated jurisdictions, with notable developments across Latin America, in particular Brazil and Peru, gaining large amounts of interest as people scope out possible new market opportunities. The UAE’s new regulatory regime is a major development in the Middle East that could have major implications on the region in years to come. In Europe, Ireland finally passed its long-awaited new gambling law, and Finland’s plans to end its monopoly system have begun to make material progress. New Zealand has also launched new online regulations, which have garnered much attention.

Most-Read Vixio Article Titles:

• ‍Brazil Publishes Licensing Ordinance For Online Gambling
• The United Arab Emirates: A Middle East Gambling Hub?
• Ireland's New Gambling Law Finally Passed

Industry Disruption

In the U.S., debates around online gambling, prop bets and the emergence of sweepstakes casinos have taken center stage in terms of disruption. Perhaps the most controversial of all the topics du jour, sweepstakes casinos have attracted regulatory scrutiny and dominated industry conversation. The sudden boom and popularity of gambling offerings under the guise of sweepstakes has triggered multiple class-action lawsuits, including a first-ever RICO case against prominent operator Virtual Gaming Worlds in New York, and several cease-and-desist letters from state regulators and attorneys general. 

In late November, the National Council of Legislators from Gaming States released model internet gaming legislation, which in part proposes to ban online sweepstakes games. Despite the mounting regulatory and legal risks, the sweepstakes casinos landscape may yet continue to evolve in response to market changes, consumer preferences, and advancement in technology. In 2025 and beyond, there is no doubt that critics and sceptics will continue to decry the lack of regulatory oversight for sweepstakes casinos and push for a sweeps shutdown. 

However, few changes will be as impactful as Curacao’s incoming new law which is set to overhaul its current licensing regime.

Most-Read Vixio Article Titles:

• ‍American Gaming Association Seeks Crackdown On Sweepstakes Games
• Curaçao's New Gambling Bill Nears Final Vote

Compliance Complexity

Increasing regulatory scrutiny on suppliers was a very notable compliance trend this year as authorities in markets all around the globe, such as Denmark, UAE, Romania, Curacao and Finland, have introduced plans to impose stricter requirements on suppliers, in terms of new licensing requirements and disclosures, to tackle the illegal market. Additionally this year, the industry has confronted continuous political and social pressure to restrict and in some cases even ban gambling advertising. In Europe, Lithuania has introduced a near-total advertising ban to be phased out during the next three years, while Bulgaria has banned most forms of advertising, with the exception of ads by Bulgarian Sports Totalizer, the state-owned operator of the country’s national lottery. In Argentina, the Chamber of Deputies’ commissions have proposed blanket bans on online gambling advertising. We also saw large-scale enforcement action around the globe, with fines starting to become more frequent in the US and Australia continuing its anti-money laundering crackdown. Improved collaboration among regulators has been another key development this year.

Most-Read Vixio Article Titles:

• ‍Romania To Demand Full Supplier Disclosure
• Suppliers Faced With Increasing Regulatory Supervision
• Lithuania Bans Gambling Advertising

Regulatory Crackdown on Non-Compliance

Authorities in the regulated gambling markets across North America, Europe and Oceania continue to enforce against violations of responsible gambling, anti-money laundering (AML) and advertising requirements, while also clamping down on unlicensed offerings of gambling.

Talking about raw numbers, regulatory authorities in North America have issued a total of 278 financial penalties amounting to $157.4m. This amount is dominated by the $130m forfeiture order issued to Wynn Las Vegas for criminal AML allegations. Apart from certain huge fines, regulators in US and Canadian states have prioritised volume over value of fines. The most commonly enforced violations related to offerings of impermissible wagers, violations of licence requirements and shortcomings in responsible gambling commitments (underage gambling, self-exclusion violations).

Looking at the more mature markets in Europe, authorities have taken a total of 211 enforcement actions (including fines, warnings and licence suspensions/revocations) against non-compliant entities. Fines totalling approximately €58m have been issued by European authorities for a host of violations, including shortcomings in responsible gambling and anti-money laundering duties, prohibited advertising and unlicensed gambling offerings.

Moving farther towards the eastern part of the world, this year, authorities in the regulated markets of Australia and New Zealand have doubled down on non-compliance by taking as many as 41 enforcement actions in total. Many big names have come under fire in Oceania for flouting anti-money laundering requirements, and have been subject to strict punishment. Approximately, A$95m have been dished out in penalties and settlements for violations of AML, responsible gambling and advertising requirements. The largely prohibited markets of South East Asia have seen ramped up efforts to tackle illegal online gambling with authorities issuing restrictive orders, clamping down on gambling syndicates and co-operating with their neighbouring countries on the issue of gambling-related crimes at large.

Most-Read Vixio Article Titles:

• Brazil Regulator Outlines Plans To Block Unlicensed Operators
• German Court Suspends Player Refund Lawsuit Pending EU Ruling
• Japanese Police To Launch Global Probe Into Online Casinos

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Dive Deeper into 2024: Gambling Compliance 2024 - A Year in Review

On December 17, we hosted a webinar that reflected on developments in the gambling industry in 2024 through a global lens. This webinar highlighted some of the key events that helped shape the compliance landscape and included some key predictions for 2025. Catch the full recording on demand here.

That's 2024 wrapped! Sound like the kind of topics you were searching for this year?

Why not book a demo with a member of the Vixio team to discuss a Vixio GamblingCompliance subscription, so you can save time next year and stay ahead of fast-changing regulatory updates with full access to our regulatory updates, insights, and analysis.