Current through Register Vol. 41, No. 3, September 23, 2024
A. A
permit holder shall comply with all applicable state and federal requirements
for data security.
B. A permit
holder shall not share information that could be used to personally identify a
sports bettor with any third party other than the department, law enforcement
with a warrant or subpoena, or a credit-reporting agency, except when a better
provides consent. Information that could be used to personally identify a
sports bettor includes gaming habits, except when this information has been
anonymized.
C. Funds in a sports
bettor's player's account shall be held either
(i) in trust for the sports bettor in a
segregated account or
(ii) in a
special-purpose segregated account that is maintained and controlled by a
properly constituted corporate entity that is not the permit holder and whose
governing board includes one or more corporate directors who are independent of
the permit holder and of any corporation related to or controlled by the permit
holder. A corporate entity that maintains a special purpose segregated account
shall:
1. Require a unanimous vote of all
corporate directors to file bankruptcy and have articles of incorporation that
prohibit commingling of funds with those of the permit holder except as
necessary to reconcile the accounts of sports bettors with sums owed by those
sports bettors to the permit holder;
2. Be restricted from incurring debt other
than to sports bettors pursuant to the rules that govern their user
accounts;
3. Be restricted from
taking on obligations of the permit holder other than obligations to sports
bettors pursuant to the rules that govern their user accounts; and
4. Be prohibited from dissolving, merging, or
consolidating with another company, other than a special-purpose corporate
entity established by another permit holder that meets the requirements of this
section, while there are unsatisfied obligations to sports bettors.
D. A permit holder shall
maintain a reserve for bets that are settled, plus the amount of outstanding
and unsettled bets.
E. A permit
holder shall implement and prominently publish the following on its platform or
within the terms and conditions inside the sports betting platform:
1. Policies that prevent unauthorized
withdrawals from a sports bettor's account by a permit holder or others;
2. Notices that make clear that
the funds in the segregated account do not belong to the permit holder and are
not available to creditors other than the sports bettor whose funds are being
held;
3. Policies that prevent
commingling of funds in the segregated account with other funds, including
funds of the permit holder;
4.
Consistent with the provisions of §
58.1-4043
of the Code of Virginia, procedures for responding to and reporting on
complaints by sports bettors that their accounts have been misallocated,
compromised, or otherwise mishandled;
5. Procedures that allow a sports bettor to
request withdrawal of funds from the sports bettor's user account whether such
account is open or closed. The permit holder shall honor any sports bettor's
request to withdraw funds by the later of five days after receipt of the
request or 10 days after submission of any tax reporting paperwork required by
law unless the permit holder believes in good faith that the sports bettor has
engaged in either fraudulent conduct or other conduct that would put the permit
holder in violation of this chapter, in which case the permit holder may
decline to honor the request for withdrawal for a reasonable investigatory
period until the permit holder's investigation is resolved if the permit holder
provides notice of the nature of the investigation to the sports bettor. For
the purposes of this subdivision, a request for withdrawal shall be considered
honored if the request is processed by the permit holder but is delayed by a
payment processor, a credit card issuer, or the custodian of a segregated
account; and
6. Procedures that
allow a sports bettor to permanently close a player account at any time and for
any reason. The procedures shall allow for cancellation by any means, including
by a sports bettor on any platform used by that sports bettor to make deposits
into a segregated account.
F. If winnings are awarded to a sports bettor
with a closed account, those winnings, to the extent that the winnings consist
of funds, shall be distributed by the permit holder within seven days,
provided, however, that if an account is closed on the basis of the permit
holder's good faith belief after investigation that the sports bettor has
engaged in fraud or has attempted to engage in behavior that would put the
permit holder in violation of this chapter, such winnings may be withheld,
provided that the winnings are redistributed in a manner that reflects the
outcome that would have resulted had that sports bettor not
participated.
G. If a sports
bettor's segregated account remains unclaimed for five years after the balances
are payable or deliverable to the sports bettor, the permit holder shall
presume the account to be abandoned. The permit holder shall report and remit
all segregated accounts presumed abandoned to the State Treasurer or his
designee pursuant to Chapter 25 (§
55.1-2500 et seq.) of
Title 55.1 of the Code of Virginia. Before closing an account pursuant to this
subsection, a permit holder shall attempt to contact the player by mail, phone,
and email.
H. A permit holder shall
prominently publish all contractual terms and conditions and rules of general
applicability that affect a sports bettor's segregated account. Presentation of
such terms, conditions, and rules at the time a sports bettor initially
acquires a segregated account shall not be deemed sufficient to satisfy the
provisions of this subsection.
Statutory Authority: §§
58.1-4007,
58.1-4015.1,
and
58.1-4030 through
58.1-4047
of the Code of Virginia.
