Gibraltar Regulatory Authority

Gibraltar is an island located off the southern tip of Spain and is the most southernmost location in Europe with a land link across an isthmus to the Spanish mainland. Gibraltar is a British protectorate and as such has autonomy from the UK so it may create and enforce its own laws and regulations however the UK is responsible for foreign policy and representation and for the military protection of the island. In this respect, Gibraltar is free to set its own levels of taxation and regulatory regime in respect of businesses and gaming operators seeking to establish themselves in the jurisdiction. The Gibraltar Regulatory Authority was established under the Gambling Ordnance 2005.

Gibraltar commenced licensing operators in 1998 for online gaming and gambling web sites and currently provides licensing for nineteen operators with sites dealing in sports books, online casinos and betting exchanges. Gibraltar is fairly strict on licensing only those operators with a demonstrable history in running online gaming and gambling sites and it is mandatory for compliance and software testing to ensure management and games are providing services which are honest and fair.

Currently the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority, Gambling Division charges nothing for making a license application but does charge a mixed set of fees and commissions on an annual basis. There is a base annual fee of GBP 2,000 with a tax rate applied to fixed odds and betting exchanges of 1% of turnover up to a cap of GBP 42.5 million. For online casinos this gaming tax is set at 1% of the gross product and is subject to the same maximum cap as stated earlier.

Gibraltar forms part of the European Economic Area (EEA) which places Gibraltar on the UK White List which does have repercussions for operators based there. The UK Gambling Commission's White List allows operators based in jurisdictions which are on it (the EEA, Alderney, Isle of Man, Antigua and Tasmania with others pending) to advertise their operation and websites in the United Kingdom. This clearly has a major attraction for operators who are based there or are looking at establishing operations from Gibraltar as they may benefit from a more relaxed regulatory regime, lower tax base and still enjoy the UK market.

The Gibraltar Regulatory Authority is a mature organisation with a professional staff who are experienced in online gaming world as well as the compliance issues involved. The GA provides a series of support services for operators to use and the authorities in Gibraltar do view the gaming industry based there as a partnership between responsible operators, cooperative government which wishes to encourage the growth of the domestic economy and the customer who is looking for an honest and fair game.

The GRA is particularly experienced in the development of website content that is compliant not only with the GRA rules but also across multiple European Union (EU) jurisdictions. Being an autonomous entity, Gibraltar's law makers and regulators have also taken the view that the free market shall dictate the development of the gaming industry and as such operators based in Gibraltar are allowed to accept players from the United States whose government has imposed a unilateral ban on online gaming and gambling.