Dutch national regulator Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) has published its primary aims for 2026, setting out strategic plans to “intensify” its efforts to tackle illegal gambling in the country.
Published this week, the KSA’s ‘Supervisory Agenda 2026’ focused on five core areas for the regulator. The regulator said it plans to support its own work across these aims by working more closely with licensed operators, other regulatory organisations and additional industry stakeholders.
Confirmation of this approach came amid changes to the organisational structure of KSA. As of this month, this has been altered to include three new directorates: player protection and management advice; permits and supervision; and digitalisation, analysis and operations.
KSA targets 90% online channelisation rate
The first focus area, KSA said, was to increase its efforts to combat illegal gambling in the Netherlands. This will primarily focus on the online market but also cover unlicensed activity within the land-based sector.
“We will intensify our efforts to combat illegal online gambling,” KSA said. “Our supervisory capacity in this area will expand, focusing on disrupting and rendering the infrastructure of illegal gambling providers inaccessible.
“To this end, we will collaborate with stakeholders such as payment service providers, social media companies and hosting providers, as well as with regulators at home and abroad. The goal is to disrupt the illegal market and to make it less visible.”
KSA said it will aim to reduce the share of revenue flowing to illegal operators and make unauthorised platforms harder to access. Enforcement will target internet infrastructure, payment channels, marketing, affiliates and social media content, with the overall aim of having 90% of players using licensed operators.
As for land-based gambling, KSA will focus on slot machines and how these fall into the hands of illegal venues. This will include continuing to work with government agencies and expanding its support network.
Reducing young people’s contact with gambling
Looking at other aims, KSA said it would also focus on protecting vulnerable groups, primarily minors and young people. It will seek to reduce the number of people within this bracket who come into contact with gambling and take part in gambling.
The regulator said the gambling behaviour of young adults with licensed providers is already being investigated using data from the monitoring database. This, it said, could lead to more steps being taken to help protect this age group.
On top of this, KSA will continue to expand campaigns to raise awareness about gambling risks among minors and young adults. This will include launching a new consumer platform, ‘Open About Gambling’, offering information about safer gambling and additional support.
Tying in with this was another focus area in terms of duty of care. KSA pledged to step up its monitoring of licensed operators’ compliance with these obligations to ensure that they are protecting customers.
This will include analysing how operators assess a player’s financial capacity and how they intervene when the user displays “risky” behaviour. It will also continue to scrutinise how Cruks, the country’s self-exclusion scheme, and other behaviour tools are implemented.
Cutting role models from adverts a priority for KSA
On the subject of advertising, KSA pledged to further clamp down on rule-breakers within this area. Operators in the country already faces strict rules.
In July 2023, the Netherlands put in place a ban on gambling ads through most media channels including on television, in radio and in print. This was extended in July last year to also cover gambling sponsorship for sports clubs and competitions, while additional measures could also be put in place if a new gambling bill comes to fruition.
For the regulator, it said its main focus in this area will be to tackle operators using so-called “role models” in ads. Featuring famous people such as celebrities, sports stars, influencers and streamers in gambling adverts is not permitted in the Netherlands.
It will also tackle operators using “untargeted” advertising, whereby they do not target a set audience with their ads. KSA said it will publish updated guidance on gambling adverts in the early part of the year.
“The main point is providers must ban platforms that clearly and largely target vulnerable groups, such as minors or young adults,” KSA said.
Dutch market set for new anti-money laundering rules
Finally, KSA said it would closely monitor compliance with the Dutch Anti-Money Laundering and Anti-Terrorist Financing Act (Wwft).
Efforts here will cover risk assessment, policy, customer due diligence, reporting of unusual transactions and record-keeping. This, it said, will be done through the use of data-driven and risk-based monitoring.
KSA will also focus on new, anti-money laundering (AML) regulations, which are due to come into effect this year. These will bring more parties under its supervision, thus expanding its responsibilities across monitoring financial sanctions and cash limits.
“Our employees are committed to ensuring a safe and reliable gambling offering, high player protection and a robust approach to the illegal market,” KSA said.
KSA plans to work closely with licensed operators, other regulators and additional industry stakeholders.