EGBA

The European Gaming and Betting Association (EGBA) was launched in 2007 as a non-profit association of seven frontrunners from the online gambling industry, namely: PartyGaming, bwin Group, Unibet, bet-at-home.com, Expekt, Interwetten and digibet. The organisation was founded with the goal of creating a universal online gambling sector in Europe in order to allow online gambling business operators to offer their services Europe-wide.

EGBA believes that creating a single European online gambling jurisdiction is consistent with the political and economic philosophy of European Union. The organisation stands against European governments that monopolise or ban online gambling and is willing to take legal recourse if needed.

Another objective of the organisation is fostering secure, responsible and fair online gambling among both gamblers and online gambling business operators. In order to meet the second objective EGBA has set out its own code of conduct that must be followed by all members of the organisation.

Online gambling business operators wishing to become members of the EGBA must comply with all of their stringent requirements, which include:

• Providing in-depth customer checks;
• Providing 24/7 customer care services;
• Allowing players to set themselves limits;
• A commitment to responsible gambling;
• Regular system audits by third-party testing facilities.

The EGBA are also especially concerned with the prevention of money laundering through online gambling and advocating responsible gambling among players. With respect to the former, the EGBA insists that its members implement a tough anti-money laundering policy. In order to prevent problem gambling, the members of the EGBA have put in place a mechanism for the detection of possible problem gamblers using their sites and also provide links to organisations that counsel problem gamblers.