A few months after the new law regulating gambling activity in Switzerland came into force, the country is preparing to welcome its first online casinos. The first wave of license extension applications is well on its way to leading to the actual launch of operations starting next July.
Legal online casinos in Switzerland will allow Swiss residents to gamble legally. The Swiss Federal Gaming Commission issues gaming licenses to interested casinos.
4 Swiss casinos in demand
Of the 21 casinos operating legally on the Swiss land-based market, only six have initiated the necessary procedures to launch their online platform . Today, four of them are well on their way to obtaining the precious sesame. These are the Grand Casino Baden (Aargau), the Casino Davos (Graubünden), the Grand Casino Lucerne and the Casino Pfäffikon (Zurich). The first two are operated by Stadtcasino Baden-Gruppe. Kursaal-Casino AG Luzern is in charge of the Grand Casino Lucerne, while the Swiss Casinos Gruppe group manages the last of these four establishments.
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First step completed
The process, which began at the beginning of the year, has already made significant progress. The Federal Gaming Commission (CFJM), the body responsible for regulating the local gambling market, has reportedly already given its approval in principle for the acceptance of these first four applications. The applicant operators have thus completed the first stage of the process.
The next step is the Federal Council’s approval, which is expected to make a decision by the end of June. Before that, however, applicant operators will have to certify all the games they wish to offer on their respective platforms, in accordance with the requirements of the new law. Once the Federal Council approves the approval, the establishments will be able to launch their online casinos, which will be open to players residing in Switzerland.
Two casinos on the sidelines
For the time being, the casinos in Bern and Neuchâtel, which had also submitted applications for an extension, have not yet passed the first stage. According to official information, the applications of these two establishments, which are part of the same group, were rejected with a request to improve certain legal and formal aspects. They will therefore likely not be part of the first wave of online casino licenses granted in the country.
As a reminder, the new law governing the gambling sector in Switzerland since January 1st was passed following a civil referendum held on June 10, 2018. At the end of the referendum, 72.9% voted in favor. Its implementation now restricts the offer of online casino games exclusively to Swiss operators with a physical establishment legally operating on Swiss territory.
Starting July 1, 2019, the start of operations of the first legal online casinos in Switzerland is also expected to coincide with the implementation of restrictive measures against foreign online casinos that are still offering their services to Swiss players. From that date, access to these platforms will be blocked for Swiss players.
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