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Gambling companies, including many suppliers, are being advised to contact the Gibraltar Gambling Commissioner to assess if they will need a licence under the jurisdiction’s comprehensive new gambling act.
Gibraltar’s long-awaited new gambling legislation has been submitted to parliament and is set for debate, with the draft law widely expected to come into effect before the end of this year.
But ahead of its approval, the region’s regulator is already encouraging businesses to engage with the changes it augers.
Andrew Lyman, Gibraltar's Gambling Commissioner, has urged companies to consider carefully if any of their business activities that do not currently need licensing cover will fall under the scope of the new law.
“Now is the time to start thinking whether or not the activity you perform is defined as ‘regulated’ and subject to licensing down the line,” he said. “We would prefer all businesses to engage early.”
In particular, the range of B2B businesses covered by the new act is set to expand.
Suppliers providing certain kinds of content to operators based in Gibraltar will now require licences, even if they are not based on the peninsula.
“The New Act provides that eligible externally based suppliers of content should be licensed on the basis that they are supplying Gibraltar licence holders regardless of where the supplier is based or the location of the servers hosting the content,” explained Steven Caetano from Isolas law firm.
Legal experts have noted the complexity of new B2B classifications under the law, echoing Lyman’s call to touch base with the regulator.
Exceptions include suppliers of betting data, but companies based in Gibraltar that are engaged in gambling marketing anywhere in the world will fall under the remit of the regulator.
“A common arrangement which would be caught by this definition is where an international gambling group has set up a Gibraltar-incorporated marketing company as part of a cross-jurisdictional indirect tax planning strategy,” noted legal experts from Hassans.
The new law will also create a raft of new licences for key personnel in gambling businesses, raising the stakes of compliance for key individuals.
On The Rebound
Gibraltar’s status as a hub for gambling companies has come under intense pressure both from the changing landscape of global online gambling and the ramifications of Brexit.
Thousands of people cross the border with Spain to work in the gambling industry and other sectors.
Rules around passport checks and the movement of goods had been the subject of tense negotiations for almost a decade, until a landmark agreement was reached in June.
That will see all checks and controls on people and goods moving between Spain and Gibraltar removed, following a deal reached between the UK and the EU in June.
The shrinking world of grey online gambling is a more complex problem to navigate. Gone are the days when companies could passport their Gibraltar authorisations in numerous worldwide markets, with an increasing number of nations requiring local licensing or working harder to shut out offshore operators.
Lyman and his fellow regulators are required to walk a fine line in ensuring Gibraltar remains both an attractive location for gambling businesses and remains in the good graces of international watchdogs.
Gibraltar was grey-listed by the Financial Action Task Force in 2022, but was removed in 2024. In July, the EU voted to remove Gibraltar from its own grey list of countries with suspect money-laundering controls.
“Gibraltar is host to a number of multi-jurisdictional business models and also acts as a service centre. We will take a pragmatic approach and will be supportive of any business that does not pose a risk to the reputation of the jurisdiction,” said Lyman.
Laying The Foundations
After several years of uncertainty, Gibraltar’s entrenched gambling sector is hopeful that a new legal foundation will secure the region’s future.
“[The new law] represents a fundamental shift towards a more sophisticated, proactive and internationally aligned regulatory regime,” according to a statement from Gibraltar-based law firm, Ramparts.
“It addresses the complexities of the modern gambling industry by widening its scope, increasing accountability for both entities and individuals, introducing a more granular and proportionate fee structure and bolstering enforcement capabilities, all aimed at solidifying Gibraltar’s reputation as a well-regulated global gambling hub.”
