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The head of Gibraltar鈥檚 gambling regulator has dismissed claims that its reputation as a gambling hub is under threat, as the jurisdiction prepares to update its regulations.
Gibraltar gambling commissioner Andrew Lyman is hopeful that a new Gibraltar Gambling Act will be passed 鈥渂efore this autumn鈥.
On May 31, 2022, Gibraltar鈥檚 government issued a command paper for consultation on the draft legislation. It accepted responses until the following August.
The new act seeks to repeal and replace the current Gambling Act 2005, covering both online and land-based gambling.
Speaking at the Regulating the Game London conference on Monday (September 25), Lyman said the new law empowers the gambling regulator to issue codes of practice.
When asked about the codes, Lyman said he understands that the new regulatory framework will mean 鈥渂reaches of codes or guidance would effectively be regulatory breaches鈥.
However, before these codes and guidance are enforced they will be subject to 鈥渙pen consultations鈥, he said.
鈥淚f Gibraltar is seen as an offshore jurisdiction, it differs from its competing jurisdictions as it expects licensees to get local licences,鈥 Lyman said, adding that the regulator does not want licensees to affect its jurisdictional reputation.
Lyman said the new, flexible powers granted to the regulator will be 鈥渂alanced鈥 by the introduction of a Gambling Appeals Tribunal, which is envisaged to be able to challenge the regulator鈥檚 decisions.
Under the new law, it is also envisaged that there will be 鈥渘o brass plate licensing鈥. Both marketing companies and holding companies providing gambling-related services will 鈥渇all within licensing scopes鈥, Lyman said.
鈥淲e are going to widen the scope of the B2B supply chain. It is going to capture most activity in and from Gibraltar,鈥 he said, adding that under the new law, 鈥渋f your management controlling the gambling company is in the region, that brings it within the scope of the government鈥.
Lyman acknowledged several difficulties facing Gibraltar as a gambling hub over the past few years, such as the introduction of point of consumption (POC) regulations in 2014, Brexit and the lack of a border deal with the EU, as well as being added to the Financial Action Task Force greylist in June 2022.
On the FATF listing, Lyman repeated the line of the Gibraltar government, saying he is 鈥渙ptimistic鈥 the jurisdiction will be removed from the greylist in January or February 2024, subject to FATF approval.
The number of gambling industry employees is also 鈥渂ack up now鈥 to around 3,600 people, according to Lyman, who admitted there was "some business" that migrated to Malta after Brexit.
But there was 鈥渘o loss of critical mass鈥, he said.
鈥淪ome might argue that our economy needs more diversity. Gambling is a very important part of the economy,鈥 Lyman explained, adding that gambling still accounts for 28 percent of the British overseas territory鈥檚 GDP.
