Relocation, Relocation to Malta
30th August, 2007
Since UK Gambling Act came into place on September 1, 2005, all jurisdictions outside the European Economic Community had to think of finding ways to continue promoting themselves. There are only two options that the companies had: get a Whitelist status or relocate.
This is why some of the biggest names in online gambling industry chose to relocate and during the next couple of weeks will have to do their online poker and casino business from the Island of Malta. Such names include Intercasino, William Hill, Littlewoods , Playboy Casino and VirginGames. Aside from the 84 iGaming companies that already have a licence on Malta, there are 76 other firms that have been issued a letter of intent and 36 others are waiting for the result following their licence applications.
This is what Chief Executive of the Lotteries Gaming Authority, Mario Galea had to say: "Malta's becoming the natural hub of online gaming."
This is not surprising, as a huge number of online gambling companies have moved to the island prior of the introduction of the Gambling Act in the UK.
Those firms on the Whitelist are allowed to legally advertise through different media. The list includes only two jurisdictions outside of the European Economic Area, Alderney and the Isle of Man; so we can assume a lot of interest in those areas by online gambling firms.
