Introduced at the end of December 2023 and entered into force as of 1 January 2024, the long awaited changes in the games of chance industry have been implemented into Montenegrin legal system, manifested through the amendments to the Games of Chance Law.

As declared by the Government of Montenegro, the primary aim of enacting the amendments is to enhance the systemic and revenue-sustainable regulation of organizing games of chance via internet, and increasing the income on this basis, which is estimated to lead in generating an approximate amount of additional EUR 15 million in revenues for the budget of Montenegro.

The implementation of these amendments in Montenegrin legal system is not a surprise, having in mind that, during several years, the need for introduction of changes to the respective legislation has been continuously communicated by the side of industry and legal community as well. However, due to necessity of changing the regulatory framework that would enable introducing the much-needed amendments of the Games of Chance Law, and addressing the existing public concerns in this regard, the amendment process has been pending ever since, up until now.

Introduction of legal framework for online games of chance

The previously applicable legislation did not provide the clear definition of the term “organizing the games of chance via internet”, which was continuously one of the main concerns of the particular industry. However, the amendments resolved this issue, by providing clear and definition of such term, defining it as the organizing of the games of chance by which the player can play the part in the game independently, through the interaction with the system, without the immediate presence of the representative of the games of chance operator.

Defining such term via amendments consequently resulted that number of matters related to online games of chance issues have finally been regulated, leaving little or no room for ambiguity. Moreover, Games of Chance Law amendments lay down a completely new chapter and six new articles that further regulate online games of chance, and ultimately give answer to several important topics.

In that line, the Games of Chance Law amendments tend to regulate, inter alia:

• the terms that the legal entity shall fulfil prior to organizing the online games of chance in Montenegro,
• required documentation and procedure for obtaining the authorization by the Games of Chance Administration (“Administration”) for organizing online games of chance,
• terms required for the registration of players in online games of chance,
• regulatory and technical rules required for organizing the online games of chance,
• manner of calculation and the payment of concession fees for online games of chance, and
• new misdemeanours and fines related to online games of chance.

Apart from that, the entities that have executed agreement for organizing online games of chance prior to entrance into force of Games of Chance Law will be obliged to harmonize their operations within 30 days as of the day of enactment of Ministry of Finance’s rulebook on technical conditions and to inform the Administration on such harmonization. It is expected that such rulebook will be enacted by the end of April 2024.

Amendments of the concession fees for casino games

The rules related to organizing the casino games have also been subject to amendments by the latest piece of legislation.

One of the most significant rules introduced by the amendments is related to increase of fixed and variable part of the concession fee paid for organizing casino games. Specifically, fixed annual fee per casino has been increased from EUR 50,000.00 to EUR 100,000.00, whilst the variable part of the concession fee for organizing casino games, paid monthly, shall be increased from 10% to 15% of the base representing the sum of daily cash balance for a particular type of game in the casino (cumulative).

AML requirements

AML Law provides that games of chance operators are required to have in place policies, controls and procedures for mitigating and managing risks of money laundering and terrorism financing. For such purposes, Games of Chance Law amendments also focused of aligning the gambling framework with the obligations under the AML Law. This was precisely why the Games of Chance Law amendments introduced, inter alia, a definition of ultimate beneficial owner and imposed an obligation for games of chance operators to enable immediate access of all stored electronic data to Administration and Department for Financial Intelligence Affairs of Police Administration, upon request.

 

The information contained in this document is given for general purposes only and should not be interpreted as legal advice on any particular matter.