Regulated market
All forms of remote and non-remote gambling operation are licensed under the Gambling Act 2005. The Gambling Commissioner of the Gambling Division holds powers as the gambling regulator in the Gibraltar Government’s Department of Finance, Gaming and Regulations; currently presided over by Minister of Commerce Albert Isola MP. Ultimately, the Minister for Gaming grants the licence as the Licensing Authority.

The main focus of the jurisdiction is remote gambling for the unregulated (.com) market, with 19 B2C operators and 22 B2B operators currently licensed. The categories of online B2C licences cover the following activities:

1. Betting (which includes betting on real and/or virtual events such as sports betting, betting on lotteries and exchange betting)
2. Gaming (which includes casino gaming, poker and bingo)
3. Financial spread-betting

The industry through its membership of the Gibraltar Betting and Gaming Association (GBGA) has an open dialogue with the Gambling Commissioner. The GBGA also acts as a means of coordinating regulatory consultations and more general industry led initiatives such as funding the Gibraltar Gambling Care Foundation (GGCF), which in turn funds the Gibraltar University’s Centre of Excellence for Responsible Gambling (CERG). CERG with industry support including provision of responsible gambling player data, is set up to research into and help prevent problem gambling. This also covers a compulsory problem gambling training program for all Gibraltar Operator staff.

Market Size
The gambling industry is a very large part of the Gibraltar economy, contributing around 25% of GDP and employing some 3,500 workers. Many of these are cross border workers travelling from Spain into Gibraltar every day to work.

Competitive Landscape
The world’s top online gambling operators are almost all licensed and have their online Head Quarters in Gibraltar. The full list of operators is set out on the Gibraltar Government site.

Traditionally the operator landscape was reserved for Tier 1 UK facing operators but due to Brexit, and over dependence on these large operators (who are themselves going through continuous consolidation), there has been a shift towards a larger mix of large and medium sized ROW focused operators gaining entry to Gibraltar.

Localisation
As Gibraltar is an outwards facing (.com) jurisdiction, then payment methods and marketing channels used will largely depend on the most suitable for the target market. Payment providers will need to be licensed. Currently the use of crypto currencies in gambling operations is absent, albeit not banned, where risk assessment and control will first need to be demonstrated before approval may be possible.

Top 5 Attractions and Challenges
Attractions

• No VAT, Capital Gain or Inheritance tax, low corporate and personal taxes
• Excellent access to government and regulator and pragmatic approach by them to licensing and compliance
• Excellent reputation as a Tier 1 licensing jurisdiction
• Great weather, lifestyle and life balance
• Large pool of expert staff and management

Challenges

• High cost of living in Gibraltar itself (cheap in Spain)
• Frequent cross border issues for British workers getting into / out of Spain but this may be resolved by imminent new Schengen Treaty, where negotiations were delayed by Spanish election in Summer of 2023, these restarted in December 2023, led by Britain new foreign minister David Cameron
• Brexit issues impacting ability to offer services into EU from Gibraltar
• Grey Listing by FATF was lifted in February 2024, which will now ease payment provider due diligence hurdles
• Tied to British government’s attitude towards Europe