.svg)
The Isle of Man government has sent an executive agency CEO to the Philippines to identify soon-to-be deregistered online gambling operators interested in relocating to the Isle of Man.
Digital Isle of Man (Digital IoM) chief executive Lyle Wraxall and a member of the agency’s “strategic partnership team” are in Manila to meet gambling regulator PAGCOR and determine the “viability and credibility of potential operators”, the Isle of Man Today newspaper quoted an agency spokesperson as saying on Thursday (October 31).
“Given existing relationships that some Isle of Man companies maintain in this region, at this stage the on-site exploration aims to understand the current landscape on the ground and identify any potential operators with the integrity and standards required to operate within the Isle of Man,” the spokesperson said.
The newspaper quoted Digital IoM’s non-executive chairman, Phil Adcock, as saying that the trip will identify “credible operators based in the region who will be affected by the enactment of recent changes in regulation”.
Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. announced a ban on foreign-facing online gambling operators (POGOs) in July.
The regulated market is expected to expire at the end of this year, although licensees have begun to shutter operations at the urging of PAGCOR, despite a delay to Marcos’ executive order detailing the ban.
The Digital IoM board has noted some pushback from local businesses about the arrival of online gambling and associated operations from troubled jurisdictions, the Isle of Man Today reported.
However, the board believes that migrating licensees are an opportunity worth exploring, the report said, providing caution is exercised.
“Following conversations with businesses operating within the island’s digital sector, it was recognised that recent regulatory changes in the Philippines affecting [POGOs] could present a strategic opportunity for the Isle of Man,” the Digital IoM spokesperson said.
“The blanket ban imposed by the Philippine regulator [sic] creates a significant displacement of the sector, meaning legitimate and high-performing businesses operating there are required to seek alternative regulatory markets.
“Consequently, the Isle of Man, known for its robust regulatory standards in this space, could provide this alternative for those businesses which would meet these high standards.”
Digital IoM’s push for new business in the Philippines follows a year of controversy surrounding two companies deregistered by the Gambling Supervision Commission (GSC) after police raids on their premises, and the arrest of at least ten suspects, reportedly all Chinese nationals.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) last month released a report on technologically proficient Southeast Asian criminal networks that included several unflattering references to Isle of Man, including these ongoing investigations — a point stressed by the Isle of Man Today report.
The UNODC identified the co-founder of the raided entities’ parent company as chairman of a Mekong-region payments venture accused of investment fraud, and who has alleged links to other criminal operations and interests in Southeast Asia, including the boss of US-blacklisted Kings Romans Casino, Zhao Wei.
The GSC told Vixio last week that it was “disappointed” by the report, and defended its regulatory record and adherence to international standards.
In response to the UNODC report and reports of mass coerced labour on the Isle of Man, a government spokesperson told Vixio in an emailed statement that a “considerable amount of work has been undertaken … to modernise and improve [immigration] processes, with more work underway over the longer term.
“This includes but is not limited to: establishing additional rigour around processing immigration applications; updating IT systems that now deliver more data and information; and progressing a full review of historic applications to identify patterns and trends,” the statement said.
“In addition, the Isle of Man will be actively involved in a project being undertaken by the UK Government to digitise their immigration process and systems.”
Wraxall’s Philippine trip coincides with the latest large-scale raid on an online gambling and cyber-scamming hub on Thursday, with police releasing some 900 workers in a facility in Bataan Province near Subic Bay, including some 300 foreign nationals.
Presidential Anti-Organised Crime Commission director Winston Casio said on Friday that POGO-style operations were found in the facility, which may also have been engaged in “black market banking”.
It was not immediately clear if the 900 workers were enslaved in the manner of two POGO-linked compounds whose discovery earlier this year helped to trigger President Marcos’ POGO ban.
The likely distribution of newly homeless licensees from the Philippines and Curaçao across legal and illegal markets is one of the most pressing issues for the regulated online gambling industry, with several small nations of varying experience and credibility soliciting operators.
Arguably the most aggressive of these in the last year have been East Timor, Vanuatu and the Comoros island of Anjouan, while Maltese law firms have also been drumming up licensing business in Taiwan, whose B2B and B2C gaming companies have suffered their own regulatory backlash.
Wraxall could not be contacted in Manila, and Digital IoM did not respond to a Vixio email by publication time.
