Heavy lobbying of the French authorities by one of Betfair's shareholders has
led to the UK based gambling group receiving approval ahead of the opening of
France's betting market in 2010.
Bernard Arnault, who is a 10% shareholder in Betfair, is considered one of
France's most successful and influential businessmen, serving as the Chief
Executive of Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessy - the luxury brand company.
Arnault has been on a lobbying campaign to get Betfair approved by the
authorities ahead of the change in legislation next year, and it was announced
recently that his efforts have led to success.
As a result, Betfair will be allowed to advertise its betting exchange to
gamblers in the French market, giving the group a powerful advantage over other
group's in the industry for the moment.
Betfair will be paying the high taxes that the French government is demanding
by online gambling operators, and will also be subject to the same strict
regulatory framework.
The European Commission has criticized the new French system for not
complying with European Union laws but the government will not yield to the
pressure and insists that the new regulations will go through by 2010.
The Managing Director of Betfair, Mark Davies, recently said in an interview
said about the group's upcoming activities in France: "In my view, no system
which allows fixed odds bookmaking can outlaw an exchange, since an exchange is
nothing more than a bookmaking system which manages the risk down to zero. While
the regulation is good news, it is also inevitable in any licensed environment,
because it is legally impossible to differentiate."
