Gibraltar Gaming Industry Safe After Brexit Vote

Last month, the UK voted to leave the European Union in a move that sent British stocks and the pound exchange rate tumbling. Given that Gibraltar is one of the UK’s overseas territories, many have wondered if its online gaming industry will take a hit.

The Gibraltar Betting & Gaming Association (GBGA) wants to ensure stakeholders that its massive iGaming operation won’t be overly affected by the UK’s decision to leave the EU.

The GBGA, which represents 20 European online gaming operations stationed in Gibraltar, stated that they’re “strongly committed” to making sure that the industry’s framework and operations aren’t affected.

“At the moment and for the foreseeable future there is no change to the existing legal and political framework that our operators work within,” the GBGA wrote on their website. “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 is therefore likely to be minimal.”

This contrasts what some industry experts speculated following Brexit, believing that Gibraltar would suffer due to the loss of its EU laws and business perks, including a 1% corporate tax.

Considering what industry experts predicted, Gibraltar residents voted 94% in favor of staying with the EU. Unfortunately, Gibraltar only comprises 32,000 of the UK’s 64.1 million residents.

Gibraltar is now in the same position as the rest of the UK, as they wait to see how Brexit will affect them. But the GBGA wants to ensure the iGaming industry that they have the resources to succeed in this uncertainty. Here’s another highlight from their website:

“Periods of wide-spread political uncertainty highlight the need to be based in a territory that s your business and sector at the highest level. We have a very ive 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.”

Gibraltar, a.k.a. “The Rock,” is home to gaming industry heavyweights like 888 Holdings, 32Red, BetVictor and bwin.party. So they have a vested interest in reassuring their shareholders that everything will be alright.

But only time will tell how this story continues because many of Gibraltar’s customers are from the UK.