The government of Switzerland has just announced that they will be changing the law for online casinos and poker gaming companies. They will regulate the industry by granting gaming licenses to companies that wish to operate in the Swiss market. The law will ideally block any online company from operating illegally without a license. The new law is open to foreign companies that are willing to work within Swiss Law.

The existing rules for the Swiss gaming industry were not working and after a review of the 2007 Federal Casino Commissions which restricted companies obtaining a license in Switzerland but did not stop them Swiss players, they decided to change the law.

The Ministry is bringing in the law to be under more control while still allowing foreign companies to obtain licenses. The European Union also played a part as any nation outside of the EU must allow licenses for private operators. They must by law allow foreign online companies to obtain gaming licenses.

The law is intended to restrict illegal gaming operations and to put in place better technical measures. The new law is currently being revised before it will be made public.

To obtain licenses under the new law will mean servers must be placed in Switzerland. This will give the government access to the server and therefore more control. They have also stated that they will have a free market option with state control.

The last step will be to discuss who will have the control of the licenses, but it shows a step in the right direction regarding online gaming.