Gambling Law in Hungary
Hungary will allegedly open its online sports betting market from 2023 and will launch new wave of enforcement actions against international operators.
As a result of fierce EU law based litigations, Hungary has ended the state monopoly on the online sports betting market, and this makes way for the market entry of operators incorporated in the European Economic Area (EEA).
Operators must meet the requirements for the minimum amount of share capital (HUF 1 billion (approx. EUR 2.8 million)) and must have at least 5-years of experience in the provision of online sports betting/online casino games.
Under the proposed licensing regime, operators will have to pay HUF 600 million (approx. EUR 1.7 million) “for the entire period of the license”.
The operation of online casino games will remain limited to the holders of national land-based casino concessions – a system that has been successfully challenged before the CJEU.
The new regulation, adopted on 22 July 2022, is set forth in a major amendment to Act XXXIV of 1991 on Gambling Operations (the “Gambling Act”) and provides for a competitive market from 1 January 2023 onwards.
Together with the new licensing system, Hungarian authorities are expected to launch a new wave of enforcement efforts, including criminal sanctions and IP and PSP blocking measures, despite the significant EU law concerns regarding the new regime.
DLA Piper Hungary
Gambling capabilities & credentials
INTERNATIONAL SCOPE, LOCAL EXPERTISE
DLA Piper Hungary is a multinational law firm with offices in more than 40 countries throughout the Americas, Asia Pacific, Europe, Africa, and the Middle East.
With more than 60 lawyers, including 13 partners, DLA Piper Hungary is one of the largest international law firms operating in Hungary with a business profile offering not only a full range of legal services but also providing tax and business advisory advice.
DLA Piper has a dedicated cross-border gambling team to assist with all of your international strategies, whether engaging with governments, negotiating with regulators or commercial partners, or structuring your business for what lies ahead.
Our team has a deep knowledge of Hungarian gambling laws and has expert experience regarding the relevant CJEU decisions and the international trends and practices. The team has an exceptional track record of challenging different decisions of the Hungarian Gambling Authority (SARA) before local courts and the CJEU.
Our team is also capable of organizing and managing international projects that involve more than one jurisdiction.
Our main areas of expertise are:
- providing regulatory advice for gambling operators within Hungary or elsewhere;
- drafting and negotiating all types of commercial agreements connected with the operation of gambling activities and/or the promotion of those activities;
- advising on any type of international and local corporate matters related to gambling operators, including, but without limitation to acquisitions, mergers, and the purchase of assets;
- assisting gambling operators in connection with procedures relating to proposals and the development of new regulations;
- representing clients in any type of litigation, especially EU law based defenses against the different enforcement measures of the Hungarian authorities.
- providing legal advice on advertising regulations, e-commerce and consumer protection legislation as well as on applicable self-regulation codes of conduct;
- assisting clients with international expansion projects, coordinating the advice so as to reflect the relevant legal fields in different jurisdictions; and
- providing training to clients and their compliance and marketing departments on all legal matters.
RECENT CREDENTIALS
Representing an international online gambling operator in the litigations over the EU law compatibility of the Hungarian sports betting monopoly (4 cases; two won, two pending).
Representing an international online gambling operator in challenging the different sanctioning decisions of the Gambling Authority in 60 court cases (all won).
Representing an international gambling operator in court litigations over the EU law compatibility of the Hungarian online gambling laws (12 cases, all won).
Representing other international gambling operators in court litigations against different sanctions issued by the Gambling authority (22 cases all won) including two preliminary ruling procedures before the CJEU.
Advising different international gambling operators in Hungarian gambling regulatory questions (continuous).
Advising Hungarian casino and online casino operators in their platform contracts and other contracts with international players.
Advising a series of international payment service providers relating to the monitoring of the Hungarian gambling regulatory rules especially from the perspective of EU law compliance (continuous).
Advising the operators of a Hungarian website with betting tips from a legal compliance perspective.
Our Experienced Lawyers
Latest Articles
The Hungarian gambling authority relaunched enforcement against international iGaming operators
Although the licensing system of online sports betting has been in force from 1 January 2023 (with payment bocking rules in force from 1 July 2023), the envisaged enforcement activity of the Supervisory Authority for Regulatory Affairs (SARA) had not taken place until the beginning of August 2023.
iGaming related payment account blocking in Hungary from 1 July 2023? – A perspective of payment service providers
According to the new payment blocking rules, in case the Supervisory Authority of Regulatory Affairs (SARA) have established that an operator provided “prohibited gambling” (i.e. not licensed by the SARA) towards Hungarian players, it shall also issue a decision ordering the restriction of the payment account used for the payment of bets or winnings by the given gambling operator.
January Update: Forms are available for companies to apply for Hungarian online sports betting licenses
The Hungarian gambling authority’s (SARA) Implementation Decree have been published on 19 December 2022 with the already known amendments to the Gambling Act, and with the start of the new year the forms through which EEA companies may submit their applications for online sports betting licenses have appeared on the SARA’s website.
Update: Liberalization of the Hungarian online sport betting system is now officially published in the Hungarian Gazette
After the vote of the Hungarian Parliament that adopted the relevant amendtments to the Hungarian Gambling Act and Concessions Act on 19 July 2022, the amending act (Act XIX of 2022 amending certain Acts regarding economic regulatory matters) is now officially published in the Hungarian Gazette.
Update: Parliamentary vote for liberalization of the Hungarian online sport betting monopoly
Next week the Parliament is to vote on the liberalization of online sport betting and on new sanctions on PSP’s servicing unlicensed operators.
An important step forward in the liberalisation of the Hungarian online sports betting monopoly
Since the draft amendments to the Hungarian online sports betting regime have not been challenged in the respective TRIS procedures, Hungary is free to adopt the proposals that would enter into force on 1 January 2023. For more information, read the article.