Gibraltar industry trade association the ‘Gibraltar Betting & Gaming Association’ (GBGA) has moved to quell stakeholder concerns regarding the UK’s referendum decision to leave the European Union.
The industry body which represents twenty Gibraltar-based European online betting operators, stated that governance of the British Overseas Territory remained ‘strongly committed’ in maintaining its present industry operations and framework.
Following the UK’s BREXIT decision, a number of industry commentators had stated that Gibraltar would be impacted by its loss of EU/EC laws and business provisions.
As expected, Gibraltar would be the first UK region to declare its referendum results, with the overseas territory voting 94% in favour of remaining in the EU. At present ‘The Rock’ is home to over 4000 industry employees making the online gambling sector its largest employer (Population: 32,000).
The combination of low corporate taxes (1% cap) and Gibraltar’s full membership to the EU have seen the UK independent territory become the operational home to more than 30 online betting operators including; bwin.party, BetVictor, 888 Holdings and 32Red.
Following a turbulent week in British politics, GBGA announced that it had spoken to all active Gibraltar operators and stakeholders. The body would issue the following statement
“At the moment and for the foreseeable future there is no change to the existing legal and political framework that our operators work within. We also note that European countries already have widely different regulatory regimes and many require our operators to have local licences – the impact on our members is therefore likely to be minimal. “
“Periods of wide-spread political uncertainty highlight the need to be based in a territory that supports your business and sector at the highest level. We have a very supportive government and regulators. We have access to a wealth of human talent and experience in online betting and gaming. The UK and EU political crisis makes us keenly aware why Gibraltar remains a great place to do European and international trade. Gibraltar is an internationally recognised success story and we intend to keep it that way.”
Source: SBC News
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