The Netherlands orders Catena Media to cease operations

The local gambling regulator said that the performance marketing company violated Netherland’s gaming regulations.

Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), Netherlands’ regulatory body ordered yesterday to Catena Media to cease operations as it found that the company violated local gaming regulations by advertising different iGaming brands in a way that is not allowed.

KSA asked the Malta company to stop the promotional activities and to avoid repeating the mistake in the future. The gaming authority also informed Catena that a fine of US$26k will be imposed if it fails to comply with the order. According to the order, Catena Media targeted Dutch players by iGaming offering promotion of different operators on several websites, such as pellenoverzicht.com, gokoverzicht.com, and netentcasino.nl.

Last month, KSA received the approval of the District Court in The Hague to fine international iGaming companies for making business in the country without a previous permission by Netherlands’ authorities. Moreover, the Chief Executive of Betsson, Ulrik Bengtsson, said that the operator will continue to fight for its right to be in a fairly regulated market in the Netherlands, despite his negative predictions. The company has urged the European Commission (EC) to prevent the KSA, the national regulatory body, to take action against some online operators last month, due to a lack of legal justification for such actions.