May 2022 saw HM Government of Gibraltar issue a Command Paper on the draft Bill for the new Gambling Act. Since then, the Gambling Division has published a consultation paper outlining the proposed licencing fees and duties schedule which will accompany the new Gambling Act. The consultation period for the consultation paper is scheduled to end on Wednesday 30th November.
With the end of the consultation period fast approaching, some of the new proposed fee proposals for the gaming industry are highlighted below.
If anyone has any questions regarding the current or new Gambling Act, we would be delighted to assist.
Proposed Licence Fees
B2C
One of the most significant changes proposed by the new Act centres around revised annual licence fees. The October 2022 consultation paper outlines the introduction of a tiered licence fee system for B2C licensees, which is calculated using the licensees’ annual gross gaming and betting yields.
Currently, all B2C licensees pay a fixed £100,000 annual licence fee (per licence). Under the new proposed fee schedule, an entity’s annual licence fee will be determined by the tier in which its gross betting yield (for revenue generated from lottery, pool betting etc.) and gross gaming yield (for revenue generated by slots, live gaming etc.) fall within. The proposed fees are set out below.
Annual Gross Betting Yield per licence | Licence Fee per licence |
Over £300 million | £200,000 |
Between £20 million and £300 million | £100,000 |
Less than £20 million | £50,000 |
Annual Gross Gaming Yield per licence | Licence Fee per licence |
Over £300 million | £200,000 |
Between £20 million and £300 million | £100,000 |
Less than £20 million | £50,000 |
The proposed structure will therefore see smaller operators paying less than the current annual licence fee, whilst the largest operators may pay more.
B2B
The proposed ‘basic fee’ for a B2B licence is set at £85,000 per annum (as is the current fee). However, this ‘basic fee’ is only for B2B gaming aggregators with a single vertical. B2B gaming aggregators who have multiple verticals are required to pay an ‘additional basic fee’ of £15,000 per annum for each additional vertical. Additionally, it is proposed that aggregators pay a ‘turnover fee’ which is equivalent to 1% of the gross revenue produced from the operations of its Gibraltar licence holders.
Alternatively, software suppliers who do not use the services of an aggregator, but instead resort to direct integration, will be licenced under a tiered fee system. The proposed fees are set out below.
Full tier 1 licence | Theoretically unrestricted direct integration to Gibraltar B2Cs (subject to regulatory approval) | £85,000 annual licence fee |
Tier 2 licence | For suppliers with less than £50,000 gross sales in respect of Gibraltar licensees or no more than three approved integrations with Gibraltar licensed B2Cs | £50,000 annual licence fee |
Tier 3 licence | For suppliers with gross sales of less than £200,000 in respect of Gibraltar licensees or no more than two approved integrations with Gibraltar licensed B2Cs | £20,000 annual licence fee |
New Licence Category
A further fundamental proposal is the introduction of a new category of licence, a Gambling Operator Support Services Licence (“GOSS Licence”). This category of licence is intended to cover Gibraltar companies providing gambling-related activities such as marketing, promotion and affiliate business. The GOSS Licence will also be required by a gambling group holding entity and non-licensees holding or managing customer funds.
The proposed licence fee for a GOSS Licence is £50,000 per annum with a £8,000 non-refundable application fee.
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