Dutch gambling sets out 2026 supervisory agenda vision

Summary

The Dutch gambling regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has published its supervisory agenda for 2026, prioritising stronger player protection and a tougher stance on illegal gambling. The agenda sets out five core themes: tackling illegal operators, protecting vulnerable groups, supervising the duty of care, tightening advertising controls and enforcing Anti‑Money Laundering (Wwft) requirements. The KSA also created a dedicated player protection department and plans closer cooperation with industry players and social media firms to disrupt the black market.

Key Points

KSA’s 2026 agenda focuses on five themes: illegal gambling, vulnerable groups, duty of care, advertising and AML (Wwft).
New player protection department formed; resources will target illegal market disruption and cooperation with providers and social platforms.
Past measures include blocking .nl affiliates; future action will target online facilitation and the supply chain for illegal land‑based slot operations.
Measures to reduce youth exposure: research into why young people gamble, tighter controls on untargeted adverts, and the launch of the Open over Gokken site for support and information.
Duty of care enforcement will intensify: monitoring of gaming limits, behavioural analysis speed, financial‑capacity checks and Cruks notification reviews; guidance on AI and monitoring tools will be issued.
Advertising enforcement will clamp down on role models, influencers, untargeted adverts and inappropriate sports sponsorships, with further guidance due early in the year.
AML/Wwft compliance will be monitored via data‑driven, risk‑based approaches; new AML rules and expected European AMLA outputs may add further obligations.

Context and relevance

The agenda signals a material shift towards supervision that combines technical enforcement (data checks, domain blocking) with behavioural oversight (duty of care, advertising limits). For operators licensed in the Netherlands, the document outlines clear areas of regulatory scrutiny for 2026 and suggests tighter operational, compliance and marketing controls are coming. For advisers, compliance teams and platform partners, the KSA’s emphasis on data‑driven supervision and cooperation with social platforms is particularly salient.

Why should I read this?

Short and blunt: if you run, market or advise any gambling product that touches the Dutch market, read this. It tells you where regulators will be watching, what practices will attract enforcement and which bits of your compliance playbook you’ll probably need to tighten — especially on player protection, ads and AML. If you don’t operate in the Netherlands, it’s still useful intel on where European regulators are heading.

Author note

Punchy: the KSA is cranking up enforcement and expecting operators to lift their game on player safety, advertising and anti‑money laundering. Operators should treat this agenda as an operational checklist rather than a policy hint.