Dutch regulator to target B2B suppliers in 2026

• KSA expands illegal gambling enforcement to B2B suppliers providing games to unlicensed operators.
• Operators and vendors across payment, hosting, and media sectors face liability under the new approach.
• The five supervision priorities address illegal gambling, youth protection, duty of care, advertising, and anti-money laundering.

The Kansspelautoriteit (KSA) will expand illegal gambling enforcement to B2B suppliers in 2026, forcing providers to reassess their involvement in unlicensed markets.

The Dutch regulator published its 2026 supervision agenda outlining five priority areas: illegal gambling, youth protection, duty of care, advertising, and anti-money laundering.

The authority restructured its organisation in January with three directorates covering player protection, licensing and digitalisation to support data-driven supervision.

B2B suppliers face scrutiny

The KSA will focus enforcement on B2B providers supplying gaming software to illegal operators. This extends regulatory liability beyond operators to the infrastructure enabling unlicensed gambling.

The regulator works with an alliance including payment service providers, social media companies and hosting parties to disrupt illegal gambling infrastructure. The KSA made several .nl affiliate domains unreachable through SiDN in 2025 and secured rapid removal of illegal content from major platforms.

The authority will explore opportunities under the Digital Services Act to combat illegal gambling content. Influencers and affiliate websites promoting unlicensed gambling face intensified enforcement.

As a target, the KSA aims to maintain 90% player channelisation to legal operators and reduce money flowing to unlicensed providers.

For land-based gambling, the regulator will track gaming machine movements after bankruptcies to prevent machines entering illegal circuits.

Young adult protection tightened

The KSA identifies concerning trends of minors and young adults aged 18-24 encountering gambling. Minors often access legal gambling sites through adult accounts, whilst illegal operators lack adequate age verification controls.

The authority will investigate gambling behaviour among players aged 18-24 at licensed operators using control database data. Research findings may trigger additional protective measures in 2026.

The regulator will intervene when licence holders fail to protect young adults from risky gambling. The authority plans to tighten measures preventing untargeted advertisements from reaching minors and young adults.

The KSA will launch Open over Gokken, a consumer platform providing gambling safety information and addiction support, in early 2026.

Duty of care enforcement continues

The KSA maintains intensive supervision of duty of care compliance. Unibet received a €4m fine for inadequate player protection between July 2022 and July 2024. The operator failed to intervene when players deposited thousands of euros daily.

In January 2026, two operators received €4.98m in combined fines for regulatory breaches including duty of care violations.

Ongoing investigations examine operators’ financial capacity assessments, gambling behaviour analysis speed, and intervention timing. The KSA will scrutinise negative behavioural steering, encouraging players to deposit more or play longer.

Investigations into Cruks notifications and personal interviews will conclude in early 2026 with market recommendations. The regulator will publish guidance on operators’ use of artificial intelligence and monitoring tools.

For land-based operators, the KSA will conduct inspections following new duty of care guidance published in late 2025.

Advertising violations draw penalties

The prohibition on using role models, influencers and streamers for online gambling advertising remains a supervision priority. JOI Gaming received a €400,000 fine for using role models at the 2023 Jack’s Racing Day motorsport event.

Untargeted advertising by online operators is forbidden, including sports sponsorship. The KSA will respond immediately to violations.

Operators may place untargeted advertising via internet or media services if strict conditions are met. The KSA will publish guidance in early 2026. Operators must exclude platforms targeting vulnerable groups such as minors or young adults.

AML supervision expands

The KSA conducts data-driven supervision of Wwft compliance by online operators and Holland Casino. Supervision covers risk assessment, policy, customer investigation, unusual transaction reporting and record-keeping.

New AML regulations implemented in 2026 will expand parties under KSA supervision and extend tasks including financial sanctions supervision and cash limit monitoring.

The European anti-money laundering authority AMLA will become increasingly active in 2026 with publications and regulations on combating money laundering and terrorism financing. The KSA participates in developing these standards.

The regulator will use both rapid interventions to immediately end unwanted behaviour and heavier sanctions with broader effects. The authority will intensify direct contact with operators to reach appropriate solutions quickly.