Germany's Fourth State Treaty on Gambling (Gl�NeuRStv) will be monitored and enforced from January 1, 2023 by the Joint Gaming Authority of the Federal States (GGL) as the country's only authority for German gaming.

Representatives of the 16 federal states met in Halle (Saale, Saxony-Anhalt) at the end of last week to dissolve the transitional authority that will exist from July 2022.

In October 2021, the Gaming Authority finalized plans for a dual leadership, appointing Ronald Benter and Benjamin Schwanke to head the nascent regulatory system. The duo have now outlined the agency's initial mandate, which will include establishing a state gaming registry to monitor all players for their own protection and to keep the gaming cosphere transparent.

Quote Posted by waver
'We're ready to go. We have put in place the appropriate structures and processes to effectively regulate the online gambling market from January 1st, 2023. In doing so, we can build on the experience of the Gambling College and the expertise in the countries, for which we are very grateful. �
GGL has full authority/responsibility

GGL is charged with full responsibility for all German gambling regulatory obligations, including licenses, penalties, taxes, technical accreditations and market dispute resolution.

GGL remains based in Halle. Full implementation of the regime will create cohesion between states with different responsibilities in the transition from an unregulated market to a liberalized gambling market with specific rules and regulations and player protections.

Previously, Saxony-Anhalt was briefly responsible for online poker and slot machines, Rhineland-Palatinate for the public lotteries and Hamburg for the state lotteries. Commercial gambling was administered by Lower Saxony and Hesse was the center of sports betting and horse racing.

Regulatory agency hires staff

The board of directors announced that around 20 highly qualified employees from the Saxony-Anhalt state administration office would be hired at the beginning of the year.

Before the Fourth State Treaty on Gaming came into force on July 1, the state of Saxony-Anhalt took over the administration, so that there are many technical overlaps and half a year of internal cooperation.

There are currently 35 licensed sportsbooks and 15 operators holding slots (machine games) licenses.

Quote Posted by GGL board member Ronald Benter
With this step, an important milestone of the State Treaty on Gaming 2021 has been reached. The bundling of competencies in the GGL raises the regulation of the online gambling market to a new level.�
Source: GGL, IGB