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The Finnish Parliament has approved the Government’s proposal for a new Gambling Act, marking a significant shift in the country’s gaming landscape. Under the reform, Veikkaus’ exclusive right to offer gambling services will end for betting games as well as online slot machine and casino games in the summer of 2027. The company will, however, retain its monopoly on lottery games, scratch cards, and physical slot machines and casino games. Gambling companies will be able to ap

For much of the past year, Europe’s gambling watchdogs have been fixated on two familiar adversaries: rising taxes and the black market. The higher levies introduced across several jurisdictions in 2025 were designed to raise public revenues and curb excessive gambling, while tougher enforcement was meant to drive illegal operators out of the shadows. Yet the headlines that followed painted a far more complicated picture. Licensed companies complained that their margins were

The Commission de Surveillance du Secteur Financier has imposed an administrative fine of €185,000 on Rakuten Europe Bank S.A. after identifying serious shortcomings in the institution’s anti-money laundering and counter-terrorist financing controls. The decision was formally adopted on May 19, 2025, and made public on the regulator’s website in early 2026. The sanction corresponds to approximately one percent of the bank’s annual turnover as reported at the end of the 2022 f

Inflation in the eurozone returned to the European Central Bank’s 2% target in December, offering reassurance to policymakers as price pressures continue to ease. Eurozone inflation fell to 2% in December, meeting the ECB’s price stability goal and reinforcing indications that the sharp surge in prices seen over recent years is gradually fading. Flash estimates published by Eurostat on Wednesday showed that the annual rate of consumer price growth slowed from 2.1% in November

The European Securities and Markets Authority (ESMA), the European Union’s financial markets regulator and supervisory authority, has announced the launch of the first selection procedure for a Consolidated Tape Provider covering over-the-counter derivatives, a move designed to strengthen transparency and efficiency across European financial markets. The initiative marks a significant step in the implementation of the EU’s post-trade transparency framework and is intended to

The Autorité des marchés financiers (AMF), together with its enforcement committee, has concluded a sanction procedure against M Capital Partners, imposing a total fine of 150,000 euros on the portfolio management company and several of its executives. The decision, rendered on December 31, 2025, targets a series of serious regulatory breaches, notably the provision of investment services without proper authorization and long-standing failures in the firm’s anti-money launder

French law enforcement authorities have dismantled a large-scale criminal organization accused of diverting nearly 15 million euros from the national vocational training fund system, uncovering an elaborate scheme that operated over a two-year period. The investigation resulted in the indictment of seven individuals in the Loire and Alpes-Maritimes regions on charges of organized fraud and money laundering. During coordinated searches, investigators seized 50,000 euros in cas

Spain’s online gambling sector maintained its strong upward trajectory in 2025, with online casino activity once again acting as the primary engine of growth, alongside rising betting revenues and increased marketing spend.   According to figures released by the General Directorate for Gambling Regulation (DGOJ) covering the three months ending 30 September 2025, gross gaming revenue (GGR) across Spain’s regulated online gambling market reached €405.36 million. This represent

Italian law enforcement authorities have concluded a major counterterrorism financing operation that led to the arrest of nine people and the confiscation of assets worth approximately €8 million, following the uncovering of a fake charity network linked to Hamas. Investigators say the structure was responsible for channeling around €7 million to the militant organisation while presenting itself as a humanitarian aid initiative. The coordinated action was led by the District

Eurobank announced this week that it has repurchased 682,000 of its own shares on the Athens Stock Exchange during the period from December 22 to December 26, 2025, as part of its authorised share buyback programme, a move intended to implement decisions taken by both its shareholders and its board of directors. According to the bank, the shares were acquired at an average price of €3.5172 per share, with the total value of the transactions amounting to €2.4 million. As a res

The Netherlands Gambling Authority (KSA) has stepped up its enforcement of anti-money laundering rules in the online gambling sector, issuing a formal warning to TOTO Online after identifying multiple shortcomings in the operator’s compliance with national AML legislation.   The regulator said TOTO Online failed to fully comply with obligations under the Money Laundering and Terrorism Financing (Prevention) Act, particularly in relation to the ongoing monitoring of customer r

Cyprus has once again increased the proportion of renewable energy in its gross final energy consumption, according to the latest data released by Eurostat, underscoring steady progress in the country’s energy transition at a time when the European Union as a whole continues to lag behind its long-term climate objectives.   Eurostat data show that renewable sources accounted for 25.2 per cent of gross final energy consumption across the EU in 2024. This represents a rise of 0

Hourly labour costs in Cyprus rose by 3.5 per cent in the third quarter of 2025, placing the country close to the European Union average and reflecting ongoing wage and cost pressures faced by employers across Europe, according to the latest figures released by Eurostat.   Data from the EU’s statistical office show that during the same period, hourly labour costs increased by 3.3 per cent in the euro area and by 3.7 per cent across the EU as a whole, compared with the third q

Germany’s Federal Financial Supervisory Authority, BaFin, has levied a €9.2 million fine against N26 Bank SE, citing systemic and repeated shortcomings in the digital bank’s anti-money laundering controls. The penalty, which became legally effective in May 2024, follows an earlier €4.25 million fine imposed in 2021 for comparable violations, reinforcing concerns that the fast-growing fintech has struggled to resolve long-standing compliance weaknesses. BaFin’s intensified sup

Greece has taken another step in shedding the legacy of its sovereign debt crisis by repaying a portion of its eurozone bailout loans well ahead of schedule, a move aimed at strengthening investor confidence and reducing long-term borrowing costs.   This week, Athens completed the early repayment of €5.3bn in loans issued under the first eurozone bailout programme. These obligations were originally set to mature after 2031, with some extending into the 2040s. Paying them down

The Financial Action Task Force (FATF) published its 2025 mutual evaluation of Belgium on December 16, identifying substantial deficiencies in the country’s ability to combat illicit financial activity. Although Belgium is largely compliant with international technical standards, the assessment underscores a serious lack of personnel and technological capacity within investigative and enforcement bodies. According to the report, Belgian authorities must urgently address deep-

Poland has entered what is shaping up to be its most forceful phase yet in the battle against illegal online gambling, as authorities expand enforcement well beyond traditional tools and into the promotional and financial ecosystems that sustain the grey market.   Marek Plota, managing partner at RM Legal, points to a level of coordination between law enforcement, the Ministry of Finance and the Financial Supervision Authority that has not previously been seen in the country’

Millions of people across the European Union continued to move in and out of work in mid-2025, despite overall labour market indicators suggesting relative stability.   New figures published by Eurostat this week reveal substantial flows between employment, unemployment and economic inactivity between the second and third quarters of the year, shedding light on the scale and direction of labour market movements beneath the surface.   Eurostat reported that “3.1 million unempl

Italy’s far-reaching redesign of its online gambling framework is finally taking shape, and the results point toward a future where dominant incumbents thrive while smaller operators are pushed out of the market.   When the country implemented its long-anticipated overhaul in November 2025, it did so with the precision of a government intent on restructuring — not merely regulating — its digital gambling sector.   What had been discussed and delayed for nearly five years arri

French authorities again found themselves under intense scrutiny as new hearings in the Lafarge terrorism financing case brought forward sharply conflicting accounts of what government officials knew during the Syrian conflict and when they knew it. At the center of the proceedings were discrepancies between diplomatic narratives and corporate admissions, with the court poring over exchanges between Lafarge executives and state representatives that now frame a deeper investig