The gambling industry is again under Riga's City Council's target as Mayor Vilnis Ķirsis wants to pass a resolution that would create specific zones where gambling can take...
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Latvia dissolves Lotteries and Gambling regulatory body
Latvia has restructured its gambling regulatory system by disbanding the Gambling and Lottery Supervision Inspection (IAUI) and integrating it into the State Revenue Service to create a single authority.
The Finance Ministry has stressed that the move is aimed at establishing a clearer approach with reduced costs and bureaucracy, as the State Revenue Service will be responsible for licensing, compliance, and inspection under a unified tax and supervisory body.
It’s also been noted that the amendments were necessary because online gambling was becoming more and more dominant, as the reforms are expected to decrease friction and create a more modern framework to better address current market trends.
The previous model was described as functional but resource-intensive, with each regulatory body having to independently create control and administrative systems, which made coordination and exchange of information harder. The effectiveness of supervision was also questioned under the Gambling and Lottery Supervision Inspection, as the government raised concerns about the need for stricter controls over cybersecurity, data management, and processing huge volumes of digital information.
Under the new framework, the State Revenue Service has set up two units, one of which will handle licensing, compliance monitoring, and legal support, while the other will conduct inspections both for on-site and online technical and financial audits.
The Latvian government has announced its plan to raise the legal gambling age from 18 to 21.Latvia is a country on the Baltic Sea between Lithuania and Estonia. The...
