While already one of the online gambling markets most focused on player safety in Europe, the regulator for Dutch online gambling has highlighted its goals for 2026, which include a focus on duty of care, AML and advertising compliance. These changes are in line with what is occurring in other markets across Europe.
The Netherlands Gaming Authority, the Kansspelautoriteit (KSA), has published its agenda for priorities across 2026. This agenda highlights their intention to crack down on illegal gambling and to ensure that player protections remain strong across the entire Dutch gambling market. There is a signal that they will be focusing on advertising restrictions, anti-money laundering (AML) compliance and duty of care. These areas of focus are in keeping with what can be seen as the prevailing conditions across many of the other European gambling markets, with regulators shifting to more effectively and consistently target illegal gambling operations.
As the entire European gambling ecosystem shifts towards a more responsible and accountable model, operators and affiliates are coming under scrutiny to ensure that they engage with customers in a transparent and responsible way.
Gambling Advertising Under Scrutiny
For the KSA and the Dutch gambling market, advertising of gambling products still seems to be one of the biggest areas of contention. There have already been changes made to the ways in which operators are allowed to advertise, and it seems that the KSA does not view those changes as sufficient, as they intend to continue updating this area of their regulations. While operators are still able to promote themselves and offer benefits to customers, like a 400% casino bonus at Galaxy Spins Casino, in an effort to attract business, there are a slew of rules that they must follow when doing so.
Most importantly for the KSA, advertising must not target vulnerable groups, especially younger audiences. With the 2026 agenda announced, industry stakeholders are expecting the KSA to harshly enforce its rules and make sure that licensed operators are following its advertising guidelines. Currently, that includes:
- A prohibition on using influencers or role models that might appeal to minors.
- The restriction of mass advertising campaigns.
- Social media, streaming and other digital advertising channels being closely monitored.
As we mentioned earlier, the overall agenda of the KSA is in line with a broader movement across the European continent to regulate and control the advertising of gambling content.
Duty of Care for Operators
The KSA already has a number of duty of care obligations that regulated operators must abide by, and it seems that it seeks to implement more. The goal is to ensure that players who might be developing harmful gambling behaviors can be identified by operators, and that intervention will occur.
The new duty of care framework will mandate that operators:
- Monitor players in real time.
- Identify any patterns that could speak to the development of gambling harm.
- Intervene in a timely manner with warnings and account restrictions.
The KSA has already displayed that it will back up its regulations with harsh penalties for non-compliance. In April of 2025, it was reported that an unnamed operator would face a fine of €734,000 for failing to properly manage their duty of care.
The expectations through 2026, as the KSA potentially tightens the duty of care regulatory strictures, are that operators will need to implement new technologies and step up their ability to monitor and intervene, or to face the consequences.
Anti-Money Laundering Compliance is Serious Business
Compliance with AML regulations isn’t something that the KSA alone is pushing for gambling operators. A wider focus across many of the gambling markets of Europe is to crack down on operators that are not compliant with AML regulations.
For Dutch operators, there is an expectation that the KSA will implement more intense methods of scrutiny throughout 2026 for AML compliance, checking not only for compliance with KSA regulations, but also for broader EU AML standards.
AML compliance is likely to look like:
- Transparency across payment methods and fund sources.
- Customer due diligence (CDD) procedures are of a high level.
- Monitoring of transactions.
- Suspicious activities will be reported quickly.
If operators are unable to demonstrate that they can detect and prevent financial crime, they are likely to face harsh penalties. The investment in compliance for this is a crucial component for Dutch operators moving forward.
Regulation that is Driven by Data
For those wondering how the KSA arrives at its agenda, the answer is through analysis of data. The KSA has not been shy of revealing that it uses data analytics to monitor for any operator breaches and to analyze user behavior.
KSA has historically made use of a range of different sources of data from operators, and 2026 is likely to be no different. Data from operators that KSA is interested in includes:
- Financial transactions.
- Player activity.
- Logs of any interventions made.
Because it uses data to arrive at its agendas and decisions, the KSA can be confident in detecting patterns and making regulatory decisions that are actually impactful. Operators must keep in mind that they must provide a sufficient amount of data to the KSA, and failure to do so is likely to result in harsh penalties.
Wider Collaboration Across Europe
The KSA and the other European regulatory bodies are well aware that they do not act alone. While the regulatory environments across different markets may have different rules, the goals are often very similar or the same. Regulators seek to provide a safer environment for their residents to play in, regardless of whether they are betting on football or playing casino games online.
In 2026, we are seeing a movement across many European markets of regulators engaging in deeper and more meaningful cross-border collaboration. This cooperation is particularly evident as they:
- Share intelligence about AML issues.
- Align standards around consumer protections.
- Work together to penalize unlicensed operators.
By working in a more collaborative way, the regulatory bodies of Europe are seeking to ensure that the online gambling environment across the entire continent is one in which consumers can play safely.
Final Thoughts
The agenda of the KSA in 2026 is very much in line with those of other regulatory bodies in Europe, and looks to be pushing back further against illegal gambling operators. As AML compliance, duty of care and advertising controls are enforced, the KSA will shepherd the online casino market of the Netherlands through 2026 and to a new level of maturity.
