Gambling Commissioner says Gibraltar will remain an iGaming hub despite No Deal Brexit

Gibraltar's Gambling Commissioner has cited "frontier risks" between Gibraltar and Spain as 'a greater business factor' for the sector when assessing the consequences of a No Deal Brexit outcome.

In an interview with SBS News, Andrew Lyman says his department is not treating Brexit as a "doom and gloom scenario" and is confident that Gibraltar will maintain its status as an online gambling hub regardless of Brexit trade talk outcomes, adding his department had long accepted that Gibraltar's business relationship will change with EU counterparts.

However, he said the Gibraltar Government would want to come to a mutual agreement with Spanish counterparts to maintain border fluidity if no future trade agreement is reached between the UK and the EU, GBC reports.

The Gambling Commissioner stressed Gibraltar operators have already made contingency arrangements, such as corporate structuring to continue access to EU Markets, whilst still maintaining a substantial presence in Gibraltar.

He also confirmed the Government is focusing on developing reciprocal arrangements which will proceed in any negotiated conclusions including a No Deal outcome. Lyman explained that if no free trade agreement with the EU is secured, or online gambling is treated as a 'reserved industry outside an FTA (free trade agreement)," then the implications "will not be all one way."

Looking to the future beyond Brexit, Lyman said the focus is on developing effective regulatory frameworks to attract talent and tackle the sector's complexities on sustainability. He confirmed gaming licence applications were still being received and his department is currently rewriting gambling legislation which will accommodate some flexibility on IT infrastructure.

The Commissioner said while gambling is a controversial subject in the UK, Gibraltar enjoys cross-party political support adding, he sees no reason why the UK will not support policies that sustain the gambling industry on the Rock.