Gaming & Gambling
Our Insight
To date, except for government-licensed sports betting and lottery, all gaming and gambling activities remain illegal in Taiwan. However, Taiwan has become one of the major hubs in Asia for offshore online gaming support services. Therefore, given this evolving business reality and some of the recent interpretation of Taiwanese courts, having a Taiwanese counsel is essential for a company to legally operate in Taiwan.
Lin & Partners’ has been a pioneer in the Gaming & Gambling space, developing a ‘first of its kind’ practice in Taiwan where, as gaming and gambling activities mainly remain illegal (outside of operations licensed by the government), it is essential for companies to understand the Taiwanese legal landscape in this area. For years, our firm has advised clients on sports betting, public lottery, social gaming, e-sports, casino-based integrated resorts, skill-based gaming and offshore online gaming. These services have included advising clients’ on their business models, seeking government licenses and approvals, developing market entry strategy, issuing legal analysis and creating regulatory compliance programs.
More specifically, our firm is renowned for its provision of efficient and practical legal assistance to clients in the field of gaming and gambling (i) in Taiwan and (ii) from Taiwan to offshore markets. Originally, Lin & Partners advised the Taiwanese Tourism Bureau (Ministry of Transportation & Communications) (i.e., the regulatory body for gaming businesses) on the development of the legal and regulatory framework for casinos and integrated resorts in Taiwan as well as on other relevant regulatory issues concerning the gaming and gambling sector. Our firm was also the first in Taiwan to provide legal services on sports betting matters to the Taiwanese Sports Administration (Ministry of Education) and to multinational clients on the legislative process, legal framework and potential legal barriers for legislation on horse racing betting. More recently, Lin & Partners has been the counsel of multinational sports betting entities, land based casinos and online gaming and gambling related corporations as well as clients criminally accused of violating gambling laws in Taiwan.
Practically, our gaming and gambling practice focuses on (i) advising clients regarding regulatory and operational risks, corporate, employment and dispute resolution issues, (ii) providing clients with in-depth legal assessment and representation throughout the gaming and gambling business process (including regarding offshore online gaming support services) and (iii) identifying suitable business models for entry into the Taiwan market. Some representative cases include:
• Advising local and multinational clients on: (1) bidding for sports lottery licenses in Taiwan, (2) contractual structures in relation to the provision of offshore online gaming, (3) social gaming and skill-based gaming businesses in Taiwan and (4) offshore online gaming regulatory, procurement, anti-money laundering and employment matter
• Advising a multinational client on the legality of conducting e-sports tournaments in Taiwan;
• Advising multinational clients on the restructuring of different corporate entities in Taiwan to further mitigate business and operational legal risks.
Services
Key Cases and Track Records
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