Danish national lottery and gaming operator Danske Spil has appointed Nikolas Lyhne-Knudsen as its new chief executive officer.

Lyhne-Knudsen will assume the role on October 1, replacing Susanne Mørch Koch, who has been in the role since April 2017. Koch announced her intention to step down in March to become the new CEO of Danish amusement park operator Tivoli.

Lyhne-Knudsen joins Danske Spil from Danish public-service radio and TV broadcasting company DR, where he served as director of economics, technology.

“I am delighted to welcome Nikolas Lyhne-Knudsen to Danske Spil as new CEO on behalf of a single board of directors. Danske Spil is a modern and digital company that has managed to balance the difficult task of securing the financial foundation under Denmark association life and contribute to a balanced and responsible gaming market in Denmark,” Peter Christensen, Chairman of the Board, said.

“Nikolas Lyhne-Knudsen has the right skills and personal qualities to continue this important community mission and lay the foundation for the future of the Danish Games,” Peter Christensen added.

“I am extremely proud to be part of a historic company that has been for the benefit and benefit of the whole of Denmark for more than 70 years. Together with the rest of the team at Danske Spil I look forward to continuing to secure the financial foundation under the associations and more than 1,300 initiatives in, among other things, cultural life, sports, health and the protection of the environment and climate, which benefit every year through the distribution funds from over DKK 1 billion from the Danish Games lotteries,” Nikolas Lyhne-Knudsen said.

The Norwegian Ministry of Culture is going to launch a consultation on unifying the country’s gambling laws into a single piece of legislation. The new bill would bring together the existing Lottery Act, Gambling Act and Totalisator Act under a group of gambling laws that would apply to the entire Norwegian market.

The consultation will run through to September 29, with a range of stakeholders invited to give their opinions on the proposals.

“The purpose of the bill is to improve responsible gaming [standards] and to prevent problems and other negative consequences of gambling,” Minister of Culture and Gender Equality Abid Q. Raja said.

“We still want voluntary and non-profit purposes to benefit from the profits that gambling generate, and the bill facilitates this, but at the same time also demands more efficiencies from Norsk Tipping,” Raja added.

Among the key proposals in the bill are for Norsk Tipping and Norsk Rikstoto to retain the exclusive right to offer gambling. Both operators would be subject to strict state control, including the government having a final say on board appointments to each business.

The bill would also have the Ministry of Culture assume responsibility for all elements of the gambling market, including rules governing the horse racing sector, which is currently overseen by the Ministry of Agriculture and Food.

The country’s regulator Lotteritilsynet would also be given more power to ensure that gambling is taking place legally. This would include ordering internet service providers to notify users that when they see marketing from offshore operators, this is both unlicensed and illegal.

Aside from traditional gambling, the consultation will also gather opinions on loot boxes in video games and whether these features should be covered by the new set of laws.