Regulation

Art. 106 of the Swiss Federal Constitution divides the gambling market into two basic sectors: casinos on the one hand, lotteries, sports betting and skill-based games on the other hand. According to Art. 106(3), the cantons license and supervise lotteries, sports betting and skill games, while the Confederation (by way of the Federal Gaming Board FGB) is responsible for casinos.

This fundamental division of responsibilities is further elaborated by the Federal Act on Gambling. Within the sector in the cantons’ jurisdiction, the Gambling Act further distinguishes large- and small-scale games:
 

Gespa is the intercantonal licensing, supervisory and enforcement authority for large-scale games.

For small-scale games, responsibility lies first and foremost with cantonal licensing and supervisory bodies. Gespa in turn has a superordinate monitoring function: federal law obliges the cantons to submit all their decisions on small-scale games to Gespa for review.

Gambling involves risks which force state authorities to respond by means of regulatory measures. Such regulation will necessarily impose limitations on economic freedom. Legislators and regulatory bodies lay their focus on problem gambling (in particular addiction) and gambling-related crime (such as fraud or money laundering). They further strive to ensure that large parts of the revenues generated by gambling accrue to the state.

These regulatory objectives are achieved first and foremost by licensing attractive but socially responsible gambling activities while curbing illegal gambling (“canalizing of the market”). On the one hand, gamblers in Switzerland are to be prevented from participating in unlicensed games lacking appropriate protective mechanisms. On the other hand, it must be ensured that revenues generated by gambling in Switzerland do not flow to illegal suppliers abroad.