Dutch lawmakers Mirjam Bikker, Jimmy Dobbe, Tijs van den Brink and Diederik van Dijk have intensified pressure on the Netherlands’ gambling framework after raising concerns that operators previously linked to unlicensed activity could still access the regulated market through acquisitions, third-party licenses and complex corporate structures under the country’s KOA regime.
The controversy centers on the Remote Gambling Act — Wet kansspelen op afstand (KOA), the legislation that opened the Dutch online gambling market in April 2021 under the supervision of the Kansspelautoriteit. The political debate escalated following scrutiny around 888’s presence in the Netherlands through a licensing structure involving Godwits LTD, part of ComeOn Group, while the commercial brand itself belongs to evoke plc. Lawmakers questioned whether the current framework can effectively identify who ultimately controls and economically benefits from licensed operations.
Mirjam Bikker
The Dutch government, through State Secretary for Legal Protection Claudia van Bruggen, defended the current legal structure, arguing that the KSA already has sufficient authority to investigate shareholders, beneficial owners, management structures and licensing arrangements before granting or maintaining approvals.
Tijs van den Brink
The legal backbone remains the Wet op de kansspelen together with the KOA framework, which prohibits unlicensed gambling operations while imposing strict suitability and cooling-off requirements for operators entering the Dutch market. Still, the debate exposed what critics describe as a structural gap between the formal license holder and the real commercial beneficiary behind gaming operations.
The KSA, chaired in 2026 by Michel Groothuizen, now faces mounting pressure to tighten oversight on ownership transfers, affiliate agreements and third-party licensing structures in a regulated online market that already exceeds €4.3 billion in annual GGR while illegal offshore gambling remains a growing concern.
