New licensing regulations Isle of Man

The government of the Isle of Man, a crown dependency in the Irish Sea, has announced that they will amend the rules for gambling, Internet gambling businesses can now base their non-gambling related activities on the island without the mandatory need for a OGRA gaming license.

This means that activities such as marketing, administration, software downloads, customer service and mail servers do not need a OGRA License (Online Gambling Regulation Act) for these activities to be based on the island. They still need a license for their core activities, such as accepting bets and player transactions. Garth Kimber, head of Internet gambling development for the government said: “Our new streamlined regulations further demonstrate our commitment to growing the e-Gaming industry on the Isle of Man. The Isle of Man is developing a multi-faceted e-Gaming industry and activities such as marketing, administration and customer support are an important part of this. Moreover, in the last 12 months we have worked to ensure our regulatory environment is compatible for a variety of e-Gaming companies and changes to our gambling regulations further highlight the flexible approach the Isle of Man Government takes in order to accommodate the needs of new and existing businesses.”

The announcement comes with the announcement that representatives of the Isle of Man will be present at the International Gaming Expo (IGE). IGE is ideal to present the benefits of the Isle of Man to the online casino gambling industry and discuss the new regulations with the relevant companies. Garth Kimber concluded with: “Attendance at previous IGE events has resulted in a number of companies deciding to relocate to the island and we are confident that this year will be no exception.”