Hungary moves to overhaul gambling regulator
Hungary’s government has moved closer to a major overhaul of gambling regulation after parliament approved measures that will strip powers from the country’s Supervisory Authority for Regulated Activities (SZTFH).
The National Assembly voted 135-46, with six abstentions, to limit the role of the SZTFH in gambling concessions and dismantle its Concessions Council, with these essentially forcing a state monopoly on casinos in certain Hungarian jurisdictions.
The move forms part of a wider review by Prime Minister Péter Magyar’s TISZA government into how gambling licences and long-term casino concessions have been awarded.
Under the changes, the SZTFH’s prior approval would no longer be required for concession tenders or for the signing, amendment and termination of concession agreements.
The regulator currently oversees gambling alongside several other regulated industries, including tobacco, mining and cybersecurity.
The government is now reviewing long-term casino concessions — agreements giving private companies the right to operate land-based casinos on behalf of the state — covering Szeged, Győr, Miskolc, Pécs, Debrecen and Sopron.
Some of those agreements run for decades, with the Sopron concession reportedly extending until 2061.
Finance Minister András Kármán has also ordered relevant parties to provide details of their ownership and management structures as part of a wider examination of the concession system.
The SZTFH has pushed back against some of the criticism, arguing that it did not directly award gambling concessions. That authority belonged to the government, while the regulator provided prior consent and regulatory oversight.
The latest legislation nevertheless opens the door to a much bigger restructuring.
Hungary’s Justice Minister has already been asked to examine whether the SZTFH itself should be abolished and its responsibilities transferred to government-controlled bodies.
For gambling companies, the immediate significance is the potential reshaping of the authority responsible for overseeing one of Central Europe’s regulated gambling markets — and a review of casino concessions that in some cases are not due to expire for decades.
