New Gibraltar Gambling Act: Are you carrying on Regulated Activities in or from Gibraltar?

With the Bill to repeal the Gambling Act 2005 and establish the new Gibraltar Gambling Act 2025 (the “New Act”) now published, a number of regulatory changes are set to be implemented shortly. In this segment, we outline the increased licensing scope and the scenarios where entities can be deemed to be carrying on regulated activities in or from Gibraltar. 

The General Prohibition Under the New Act

The New Act prohibits a person from carrying on a regulated activity in or from Gibraltar, or purport to hold themselves out as able to do so unless they hold a licence or an exemption. 

Generally, for an activity to be regarded as a ‘regulated activity’ it must fall within a defined list of activities (as covered in our first update) and be carried on in or from Gibraltar.

What does “In or From Gibraltar” Mean?

The New Act lists three specific cases where a person who would not normally be considered to be operating in or from Gibraltar, will be treated as doing so. 

The three listed scenarios are where the:

1. registered office or head office of the entity which carries out the regulated activity is not in Gibraltar, but the day-to-day management or decision-making of the regulated activity is conducted from Gibraltar, then the regulated activity is deemed to be carried out in or from Gibraltar;
2. registered office of the entity which carries out the regulated activity is in Gibraltar or if it does not have a registered office but the head office is in Gibraltar and the activity is carried on from an establishment maintained in a country or territory outside Gibraltar then the regulated activity is deemed to be carried out in or from Gibraltar; and
3. entity which carries out the regulated activity outside of Gibraltar provides facilities for remote gambling to or for the benefit of a Gibraltar licence holder.

Note:

1. for scenarios (1) and (2) it is irrelevant where the person with whom the regulated activity is carried on is situated; and
    
2. scenario (3) shall not apply:
   
   
   1. where the facilities are provided to the licence holder by a company that is a member of the licence holder’s group;
   2. if the facilities are not critical to the remote gambling; and/or
   3. to third party software providers who supply content to licensed B2B aggregators in Gibraltar.

Accordingly, the New Act will regulate B2B providers who wish to contract with local operators. These B2B providers will require their own Gibraltar licence. 

This section of the New Act is designed to ensure that certain activities with a Gibraltar connection, however indirect, are still subject to the New Act. 

Further Information

If you would like to discuss the new licensing scope and how it affects your business, feel free to contact our team:

Andrew Montegriffo, Partner

Louise Federico, Partner

Anna Buhler, Associate