Main Menu
Casino
Isle of Man
Down
Casino Games
Casino Facts
House Edge
GGG
 
 
  | Home   | Index   | TV   | Poker News   | Main News   | Email
 
 
Why eGaming companies locate in the Isle of Man 
 
 
 
With the UK having the most liberal approach to gambling online in the world and the largest regulating organisation, the Gambling Commission, it looks like the place to base your business if you are setting up in the eGaming world. But many companies chose alternative locations for their business and simply apply to the Commission for a remote gaming licence.

To those people who are looking for guaranteed safety it might seem like an idea to only play with UK based operators but those are thin on the ground. Even long established big UK names have much of their eGaming activities centred outside of the country.

Big names like Pokerstars and Microgaming are based in the Isle of Man but there are many hundreds of exciting portals like Swanky Mobile Bingo also using the safe haven of the island as their base.


So why choose the Isle of Man?
You may not know much about the Isle of Man but it is a self-governing crown dependency. This means its parliament, the Tynwald (claiming the oldest continuous parliament in the world), makes the laws that govern the island and the Queen is the head of state. Is also not in the European Union although it is as far as customs is concerned. So it is a safe place to establish your business.

Moreover the government of the island saw the early potential of online gambling in the late 1990s and established one of the first eGaming regulatory bodies in the world, an extension of the Gambling Supervision Commission which started in 1962. This in tern has led to the development of of an eGaming development team sponsored by the government to help with and support licence applications on the island. They can even give grants to those who wish to move to the island and therefore create jobs.

The local economy is good too. It has had growth every year for the last 30 years which has seen it through rough down times in other countries around the world.


Most of all though is the support offered to businesses who want to start-up there or relocate there as there is an extensive network of local service providers including advanced telecommunications infrastructure and large data centres offering gaming specific expertise and knowledge of how to protect against DOS attacks.

Of course it is also has financially attractive tax laws. Betting duty is capped at 1.5% of gross profit and there is no capital gains tax, so if you sell up at a big profit it is all yours. Employees will never see income tax above 20% and there are high personal tax allowances, so its attractive for people to move and work there. The government will make special efforts to get visas for those working in the eGaming world so that getting the staff you want is not a problem.

Lastly and by no means least is the banking sector in the Isle of Man. It has a long established financial centre with top credit rating from the big credit reference agencies. They are well practised is segregating funds so that customer money is automatically separated from company money giving all of us players more confidence.

So if you see an operator that is based in the Isle of Man you can be assured that it is as safe as anywhere in the world and probably safer.

Find licensees at the UK Gambling Commission
Isle of Man eGaming licence holders
 

 
Home | Index | Information | Links | Advice | Diary | This Week | Columns | News | Email
Lotteries | Casino Gambling | Games | Betting | Equipment | Film Review | Book Review | Glossary
 

This document maintained by GGGeditor.
Material Copyright © 2000 - 2017 TheGoodGamblingGuide.com