Spain will start to hand out its first gaming industry licences early next month. A release from the Ministerio De Hacienda y Adminstracions Publicas reports that the country’s gaming industry commission, the DGOJ, will be issuing licences on June 1 with the transition period getting underway the following day. The country has been inundated with applications since deciding to regulate the market late last year. If approved, sites will be required to operate through a dot.es domain and won’t be allowed to offer in-play betting yet.
William Hill chief executive Ralph Topping will receive his controversial pay packet after it survived a shareholder vote by the slimmest of margins. The company’s AGM saw 49.8 percent vote against the £1.2 million “retention bonus” and 8.3 percent pay rise awarded to Topping and it was almost double the amount that voted against a similar figure last year. According to the Guardian, one shareholder retorted: “CEO’s are dining in the last chance saloon trying to take as much as they can as soon as possible.”
None of this seemed to phase the company as chairman Gareth Davis reiterated his stance on Topping’s pay, stating: “I am a man of my word and I will not renege on that deal.”
StanJames.com have extended their mobile gaming portfolio by signing up with Realistic Games. It will give the site a suite of 10 games, including 8 slots, which have been specifically designed with iPads and smartphones in mind. Denis Kelly, CEO at StanJames.com, said: “Mobile is a key strategic channel for StanJames.com; adding a high quality mobile casino offering to our rapidly expanding sports betting product is a key development for us. The initial performance of Realistic’s games has been extremely encouraging and suggests that these games will be an important driver of future mobile revenues.”
