Betting, Gaming and e-Commerce

ISOLAS has a dedicated team of professionals with broad and in-depth experience with transactions, regulation and legal issues facing companies and their suppliers involved in gaming, gambling, betting, lotteries (both remote and land-based) and e-commerce business. The Gaming Team regularly assists companies in this sector, from start-ups and gaming license applications to large corporations, in commercial and corporate transactions.

Services offered:

Regulatory

Regulation and transparency are key to Gibraltar’s drive to consolidate itself as a leading jurisdiction for e-gaming and e-commerce companies. This led to widespread recognition amongst professionals in the sector that Gibraltar needed a modernised legislative framework to replace the Gaming Ordinance 1958. After a lengthy consultation process involving the Government of Gibraltar and the industry, the Gambling Act 2005 was enacted and came into force on the 26th October 2006 replacing the former regime. The Gambling Act 2005 builds on the pragmatic approach to regulation Gibraltar has adopted over the years. It provides a new and streamlined application, licensing and regulatory framework for Gibraltar’s well established and fast growing e-gaming business sector. The Gambling Act 2005 makes specific provision for the modern requirements of online/ remote gambling, betting and gaming, striking a fair balance between efforts to further regulate the gaming industry and the need to respond rapidly to a highly competitive and fast moving international e-business environment.

To further complement this, the Electronic Commerce Directive was transposed into Gibraltar law as the Electronic Commerce Act 2001. Although the Directive does not apply to gaming, this exclusion was not following by the Gibraltar legislature thereby allowing Gibraltar based e-gaming companies to benefit directly from its provisions. Essentially this means that clients of e-gaming companies operating from Gibraltar may rely on the statutory protection afforded by the Electronic Commerce Act 2001 in addition to that provided by inter alia, the Data Protection Act, Intellectual Property (Copyright & Related Rights) Act 2005 and the Gambling Act 2005.

Gibraltar is therefore well suited to deal with today’s regulatory climate as the only UK overseas territory that is part of the EU and this has been recently recognised by the UK’s Gambling Act 2005 which acknowledged the fact that Gibraltar is part of the European Economic Area (EEA) for the purposes of the UK’s new Gambling legislation.

Tax

One of the key considerations for remote and land based gaming and gambling operators is compliance with requirements to pay gaming tax and income tax. ISOLAS can assist companies in their compliance efforts and offer suggestions for structures to legally minimise taxation.

Corporate finance

Gibraltar has seen various major e-gaming companies involved in public financing over the last few years. ISOLAS is well experienced in AIM listings and assisting companies in complying with legal and regulatory obligations involved in public financing projects. Of particular importance in these transactions is our in-depth knowledge of Gibraltar’s legal and regulatory regime which in such listings is fundamental to supplement advice/ due diligence required for AIM listings by our UK counterparts. With established partners in the UK, EU and US, ISOLAS is uniquely suited to assist e-gaming businesses in this area.

Employment law

Gaming, gambling and betting operators, have specific recurring types of employment law issues. ISOLAS is vastly experienced in this area and offers sound commercial advice to employers with respect to all employment and human resources matters, including new and forthcoming Gibraltar and EU employment legislation. Indeed, ISOLAS have been doing this since online gaming operators first started establishing their business in Gibraltar more than 10 years ago.

Commercial contracts

Gaming operators, both remote and land-based, have continuing needs for contracts for supply of goods and services related to their businesses. These include contracts for software and website development, gaming platforms, web content, hardware, software and content procurement, licensing and maintenance, telecommunications links, web-hosting, web-design, banking and agreements with payment providers, and agreements with advertisers, sponsors, partners, white labels, endorsed vendors and preferred suppliers.

Intellectual Property Protection

ISOLAS has a very strong and experienced Intellectual Property Team. We can advise on the protection of all intellectual property rights worldwide and register and manage your IP portfolio. Since remote gaming companies carry out most of their business through the internet on an international scale, it is key for such companies to be fully aware of the strength and vulnerabilities of their IP rights, not only in Gibraltar but on a world-wide basis and protect them. We advise on trade marks, copyrights, designs, database rights and patents. We assist in the commercial valuation of these rights through licensing. Where necessary our IP team will bring claims against others for infringement of IP rights and defend claims brought against our clients.

Property and construction

Securing favourable legal and commercial terms for property is critical for the success of gaming, gambling and betting operators. Our property team is one of the historical strengths of ISOLAS. We can assist in asset purchases or sale and leasing of facilities for gaming, gambling and betting. We can also advise on land use rights, planning, licensing and environmental issues. Our construction team has extensive experience in projects involving construction of casinos, betting shops, resorts and clubs in Gibraltar and elsewhere.