As from September 1 2007, operators in non-approved jurisdictions will not be able to advertise and market gaming products in the UK and therefore will be highly adversely effected by the ban imposed by the UK. For this reason, a large number of gambling sites are considering re-registration in a jurisdiction provided on the 'white list'. The White List is a list of approved gambling jurisdictions. Any online gambling company licensed in a White List territory is free to advertise its services in the UK, but those companies that are licensed elsewhere must switch to another licensing jurisdiction before they can do so.
Registration in Malta deems gambling operators capable of advertising in the UK, so long as they are members of the European Economic Area. Other countries such as Gibraltar are also approved and other jurisdictions such as Kahnawake and Antigua are still awaiting affirmation of their jurisdictions acceptability.
The UK
government's announcement that only companies based
in territories on its so-called 'white list' will be
able to market their services in the UK from
September 1 has
prompted more e-gaming firms to register in Malta.
To gain a place on the UK white list, countries must
meet stringent new standards which are designed to
stop children gambling, protect vulnerable people,
keep games fair and keep out crime. Countries in the
European Economic Area (EEA), which includes Malta,
have been automatically accepted. Malta has serious
Regulations that cater for the above and
therefore are satisfactory to the UK authorities.
Malta, it seems, is clearly a favoured jurisdiction
for re-location. Last month, the Lotteries and
Gaming Authority issued a statement informing all
potential remote gaming licensees that due to an
unexpected increase in the number of applications
received for new licences, the Authority was not in
a position to guarantee the processing of new
applications within the normal time-frames.
Applications received after the 9th of July, 2007
may not be dealt with until October, the Authority
has warned.
To be one of the very first jurisdictions to achieve
White Listing is a huge achievement for Malta. The
country is proud to have procedures in place
that have put it on the forefront in this important
exercise.
