Gibraltar – Offshore Licensing Jurisdiction

Gibraltar is home to many of the leading UK Facing iGaming companies, with the likes of 888Holdings, Ladbrokes and 32Red all operating their online casinos, sportsbooks and other iGaming offerings from the small British controlled offshore territory.

With an area of only 2.6 square miles, Gib as it is referred to locally is one of the most densely populated territories in the world, with a population of over 30,000 people vying for space. Since 1999, the iGaming Industry has become the largest single private employer on the Rock.

The infrastructure to enable gaming companies to operate from Gibraltar has improved more than ten fold since the time Dave Sawyer of EasyPlay.Vegas was based there during 2000 – 2006.

Regarded as one of the most stringent offshore gambling jurisdictions, Gibraltar has received ‘White Listed’ status from the UK Govt, which in turn means that those operators based on Gib are able to apply for a UK Gambling Commission license. Thus allowing them to accept and serve UK based players.

Gambling licenses issued to operators wanting to host their services in Gibraltar used to be governed by the Gibraltar Regulatory Authority or GRA for short. For an operator to have been able to obtain a license in Gibraltar, a series of stringent due diligence tests were performed by the GRA.

Whilst in the past the GRA came in for criticism from the player community – due to an issue with Gibraltar Licensee Betfred using a purported ‘rigged’ game.

However all Remote Gaming Licenses issued in Gibraltar now fall under the remit of the Gibraltar Licensing Authority, which is currently overseen by The Hon Albert Isola MP – Minister for Financial Services and Gaming.

Currently at the time of updating the information on this page ( May 16th 2016 ), Gibraltar currently licenses a total of 34 companies, who are allowed to operate and offer remote gaming facilities from the British Territory.

Of these companies, several are reviewed and recommended here on EasyPlay.Vegas, with each recommended Gibraltar licensed online casino, also having a UK Gambling Commission License. Thus allowing them to accept UK Players.

In general licenses to operate from Gibraltar are extremely difficult to obtain and this is one of the reasons why the British Territory is regarded as one of the best licensing jurisdictions in the iGaming Industry. Indeed the following is taken directly from the Remote Gambling page of the Gibraltar Government Website:

“The Licensing Authority will only consider licensing blue chip companies with a proven track record in gambling, licensed in a reputable jurisdiction, of good financial standing and with a realistic business plan. Licences are generally difficult to obtain. “