ARGENTINA OUT FOR BWIN

14 March 2008

Licensing confusion leads to shutdown order


The Vienna-listed online gambling group Bwin and Argentinian authorities argued the extent of previously granted licensing in the South American country last week as a Buenos Aires court ruled that Bwin should close down its Argentinian-facing betting website.

Bwin holds that it is licensed throughout Argentina by the Instituto Provincial de Loterias y Casinos in the Misiones province in the north east of the country, and will continue to negotiate with the authorities in an attempt to arrive at a mutually beneficial resolution.

Bwin pioneered the Argentinian online betting market earlier this year, advertising in a country-wide campaign in a local daily newspaper. It is thought that the advertisements may have prompted competitive companies and the government gambling monopoly to complain to the authorities, claiming that licenses issued by provincial authorities do not extend to advertising nationally.

This seems to be borne out by a Bwin spokesperson's comment that: “The advertising may have brought our activities to their attention, while the local monopolies will always try to defend their territory”.

Online Casino News courtesy of InfoPowa