ANJ renews operator licences, approves new permit

France’s gambling regulator L’Autorité nationale des jeux (ANJ) has approved the renewal of a number of operator licences in the country, and also issued a new permit to NJJ Project Thirteen.

The ANJ said that 10 of the country’s online gambling operators were due for renewal, with their existing licences that were awarded in 2015 expiring this year.

The older licences were issued by L’Autorité de régulation des jeux en ligne (ARJEL), but since being replaced by ANJ earlier this year, the new regulatory body has taken control of the process.

ANJ said it approved all of the licences in question, but did not disclose which operators had been up for renewal.

B.E.S., Betclic, France Pari, GM Gaming, Joaonline, FDJ, Netbet, Pari Mutuel Urbain, Reel Malta, SPS Betting France, Vivaro, Winamaz and Zeturf France all hold online gambling licences in France.

Meanwhile, ANJ also approved a new licence for NJJ Project Thirteen, making it the 14th online gambling licensees in the country. 

NJJ Project Thirteen is set to take over the online horse racing and sports betting offering that was previously operated by Geny Infos under the ‘GényBet’ brand.

Confirmation of the renewals and new licence comes after ANJ earlier this month revealed a 5.6% year-on-year decline in online gambling revenue for the second quarter.

For the three months to 30 June, revenue declined to €323m (£294m/$382m), with ANJ putting this primarily down to the impact of novel coronavirus (Covid-19).