The Isle of Man is not and never has been part of the
The Isle of Man is also not part of the European Union (EU), but it has a special relationship with the EU as set out in Protocol three of the
The
Much has been happening in the remote gambling industry over the last year and this article concentrates on the recent changes that have been made to
On 1 September 2007, the key provisions of the UK Gambling Act 2005 came into force, bringing with it a massive overhaul of the
Of particular relevance to remote gambling operators based outside the
Non-remote gambling constitutes ‘foreign gambling’ if it takes place in a non-European Economic Area (EEA) state. Remote gambling constitutes ‘foreign gambling’ if none of the arrangements for it are subject to the laws of an EEA state. However, the
The
In order to be placed on the UK White List, jurisdictions have to be able to demonstrate that they have a satisfactory regulatory regime in place, the licensing and regulatory objectives of which broadly achieve the objectives under which the
l to prevent gambling from being a source of crime or disorder, being associated with crime or disorder or being used to support crime;
l to ensure gambling is conducted in a fair and open way;
l to protect children and other vulnerable persons from being harmed or exploited by gambling.
Currently, only the Isle of Man and
For remote gambling operators not based in a white-listed jurisdiction or an EEA state, the ban on advertising foreign gambling in the
The inclusion of the
The
In addition to its UK White List inclusion, the Isle of Man offers a number of other real advantages to those companies choosing to locate their operations in the Isle of Man, including:
l a high quality and stable political, legal, fiscal and regulatory environment;
l a pool of professional expertise and talent to service and support all of the requirements of the e-gaming industry, including lawyers, internet service providers, hardware suppliers, graphic designers, web designers, software developers, disaster recovery centres, e-payment service providers and accountants;
l a first-class telecommunications infrastructure. The Isle of Man was the world’s second and Europe’s first jurisdiction to have an operational 3G mobile network, which was launched in December 2002, and the world’s first commercial HSDPA 3.5G service, which was launched in November 2005. The jurisdiction also has resilient and reliable power supplies, something that is essential not just for remote gambling operators, but for operators looking for jurisdictions within which to base their disaster recovery facilities.
It also offers 1.5% gaming duty reducing to 0.1% with increased turnover, a general rate of corporate income tax of 0% and a location within the centre of Europe which is within the same time zone as the UK and never more than one or two hours different from all other European countries.
The island has already succeeded in attracting a number of the e-gaming industry leaders to set up their business operations on the Isle of Man. The inclusion of the island on the UK White List can only strengthen the island’s position to accelerate the growth of this sector. Add to this the other real advantages offered by the island and the Government’s proactive approach, the
e-gaming operations.
