Polish Ministry Will Merge Gambling Companies
The Polish Ministry of Treasury has issued preliminary consent to merge the country’s gambling companies, the Polish Lottery Monopoly (PML) and Totalizator Sportowy, (TS), hoping that PML’s shares will strengthen TS’s capital.
PML’s president, Ryszard Naleszkiewicz argues that the merger will result in more losses, but Miroslaw Roguski, the president of TS, approves of the action.
The Ministry is currently still planning the terms of the merger.
Malta’s Progress
Joe Bannister, chairman of the Malta Financial Services Authority, recently provided an interview for the Financial Regulator magazine in which he discussed Malta’s progression from a tax haven to a more European-like regulatory environment.
Bannister says of Malta, “We have been screened by a number of international organizations: the EU, the OECD, the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering, the World Bank, and a few weeks ago, the International Monetary Fund. The IMF found nothing that caused us concern. It concluded that our regulatory system was very robust."
He later added, "It is possible that in ten years' time we will need one piece of legislation for each financial sector, like the UK's Financial Services Act, and a single licence."
Liaoning, China Wants To Monitor Messaging
The Chinese province of Liaoning would like to eliminate lewd and offensive text and voice messaging.
The Beijing Morning Post reports that mobile phone users who send “insulting, sexual, or fabricated” information could face criminal charges, and an official of the Liaoning Telecommunications Administration said the department would use advanced technological methods to catch perpetrators, though he didn’t mention any specific techniques.
Messages that encourage gambling will also be prohibited.
Beijing, China already monitors chat-rooms, screens e-mail, and bans access to subversive foreign websites.
Greek Gaming Machine Ban Challenged
On July 22, the European Commission stated that it will challenge the Greek parliament’s decision to ban all electronic gaming machines except for those located in the seven Greek casinos.
The European Commission was not consulted about the ban’s legality and describes the ban as disproportionate because it bans not just games of chance, but also games that pose no reason for social concern.
Even before the law banning the machines passed, the Commission warned that "prohibiting electrical, electromechanical and electronic games in all public places, with the exception of casinos, could in practice restrict the import of these products in contravention of the rules of the EC Treaty on the free movement of goods."
Israel’s New Gambling Tax
Israel’s new Ministry of Finance regulations, published July 27, will tax income from gambling, lotteries, and prize-winning at the same rate as salaried income from domestic and overseas jobs.
Income from gambling and lotteries will require a 25 percent withholding tax, and a tax-exempt ceiling will be set at NIS 70,000.
The new regulations apply retroactively to July 1,2003.