Betfair welcomes development on Italian betting exchange regulation

LONDON, England AND ITALY -- (PRESS RELEASE) -- Betfair Group welcomes the actions of the Italian authorities in notifying a Ministerial Decree to the European Commission that will regulate betting exchanges in Italy.

This will subsequently allow Betfair to apply for an authorisation under its existing Italian online gambling licence to operate the company’s betting exchange product in the country.

The Company looks forward to working with the Italian authorities to obtain this authorisation over the coming months and become fully operational on its Italian gaming site.

Commenting on today’s news, Martin Cruddace, Betfair’s Chief Legal and Regulatory Affairs Officer, said:

“We are delighted to have an opportunity to bring our revolutionary betting exchange to Italy.

“This decree signifies the positive on-going development of online gambling regulation in Italy and demonstrates that the Italian authorities have full confidence that the introduction of betting exchanges will be a good move for both consumers and the betting market in general. “We look forward to working with the authorities in Italy to offer consumers greater choice and better value.

“International expansion is a key element of the company’s current growth strategy and our ability to license our core exchange product in a market as significant as Italy is hugely important for us.”

The Ministerial Decree will now be reviewed by the European Commission, after which it will be returned to the Italian Ministry of Finance for signing following which it will enter into force.