Licensing under the New Gibraltar Gambling Act: Do you fall within scope?

Following the publication of the Bill to repeal the Gambling Act 2005 and establish the new Gibraltar Gambling Act 2025 (the “New Act”) , a number of regulatory changes are set to be implemented when the New Act is enacted (expected to be on 1st October 2025). 

In this first segment, we highlight the increased licensing scope and the different activity undertaken from Gibraltar which will fall within scope of licensing. 

Gambling under the New Act

Under the previous Gambling Act 2005, “gambling” was defined as either:

• betting (including pool betting) and bookmaking;
• gaming; and
• promoting or entering a lottery. 

Under the New Act, the definition of “gambling” has been increased significantly and now also includes:

• operating or keeping  on any premises a gambling machine for the purpose of gambling on those or any other premises; and
   
• offering moving reel games, slots or casino type games where there is a combination of free and paid options to participate and an opportunity is provided to participants to win money or money's worth. 

Importantly, the definition of “gambling” under the New Act explicitly excludes social gambling. 

The Trigger that Requires a Gibraltar Gambling Licence 

Under the previous Gambling Act, the sole trigger requiring a Gibraltar gambling licence was the fact that a person was conducting or providing facilities for remote gambling in or from within Gibraltar and they had at least one piece of remote gambling equipment situate in Gibraltar. 

The trigger for licensing has now been increased significantly, with the location of remote gambling equipment now only one of multiple triggers. Other triggers now include:

• a person who, in or from Gibraltar, carries on or conducts, or is responsible for the organisation, authorisation or production of remote gambling, regardless of whether or not the gambling takes place in Gibraltar or elsewhere; 
   
• a person who, in or from Gibraltar, conducts or is responsible for the organisation, or operation or any other form of management of remote gambling equipment located anywhere in the world;
   
• a person, in or from Gibraltar, enters into, offers to enter into or holds out as able or willing to enter into a gambling transaction, whether remotely or non-remotely, regardless of whether the gambling is to take place in Gibraltar or elsewhere; or
   
• a person, in or from Gibraltar, provides various forms of services or facilities for remote gambling. Various examples of these are included within the New Act and the New Act also allows the Minister to prescribe further by Regulation.   

Types of Licences 

There are broadly three categories of gambling licences issued under the New Act:

1. B2C Gambling Operator's Licence (remote and non-remote); 
2. B2B Gambling Operator's Licence (remote and non-remote); and
3. Gambling Operator Support Services Licence. 

It is important to note that what is considered to be ‘B2B remote gambling’ under the New Act is far broader than was previously the case. For example, providing managed trading services or providing virtual or simulated content for the purposes of betting are both caught within the new licensing scope. 

Further Information

Further information outlining each type of licence available under the New Act will be published shortly.

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