A major developed gambling market has restructured its tax regime to assign a higher duty rate to online games of chance than to any other product category. The logic is explicit: certain products carry a higher potential for harm, and the tax structure now reflects that judgement. That policy decision lands on operators as a commercial one. In the same month, a European regulator issued formal enforcement against an international prediction market platform, rejecting its self-classification and applying the standard gambling test: if users stake money on an uncertain event outcome for a prize, it is gambling, regardless of what the product is called. Two mechanisms, the same direction of travel.
Exec Global Licensing & Regulation Report — February 2026
