Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association CEO, Peter Howitt, has penned an op-ed piece criticizing Britain’s proposed secondary licensing and taxation law which is based on gambling point-of-consumption. Howitt says the new laws on internet gambling could deal Gibraltar’s economy a “hammer blow.”
He argues that the law will undermine the “excellent protection” UK customers get from Gibraltar-based sites.
Gibraltar is home to 30 licensed online gambling companies, and Howitt says Gibraltar does an excellent job protecting against underage gambling and protecting the online player.
“The UK plans take no account of the need to assess an operator with reference to the jurisdiction in which they are based, the quality of local regulation and the need for mutual agreement on a wide range of other regulatory matters including anti money laundering, data protection, consumer protection, contract enforcement and payments protection, Howitt said.
“By putting the Gambling Commission in the position that it is licensing and regulating overseas operators in a vacuum in places where it has no proper information gathering, monitoring or enforcement powers, the UK government ignores many crucial regulatory issues that are necessary to protect British consumers from harm.”
Howitt said the British laws could cause Gibraltar operators to cut jobs or even relocate. Online gambling sites employ 10 percent of Gibraltar’s workforce.
He said the Association has offered an alternative plan pushing for cross-border collaboration and regulatory supervision.
“Our proposals would ensure that the UK’s consumers are more stringently protected as well as enabling the industry, government and regulators to deal with cross-border issues in a coordinated manner,” he writes, noting that the core of the GAGA proposal has already proved successful in the regulation of financial services within the EU.
