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Why eGaming companies locate in the Isle of
Man |
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With the UK having the most
liberal approach to gambling online in the world and the largest regulating
organisation, the Gambling Commission, it
looks like the place to base your business if you are setting up in the eGaming
world. But many companies chose alternative locations for their business and
simply apply to the Commission for a remote gaming licence.
To those
people who are looking for guaranteed safety it might seem like an idea to only
play with UK based operators but those are thin on the ground. Even long
established big UK names have much of their eGaming activities centred outside
of the country.
Big names like Pokerstars and Microgaming are based in
the Isle of Man but there are many hundreds of exciting portals like
Swanky Mobile Bingo also using the
safe haven of the island as their base.
So
why choose the Isle of Man?
You may not know much about the Isle of Man but
it is a self-governing crown dependency. This means its parliament, the Tynwald
(claiming the oldest continuous parliament in the world), makes the laws that
govern the island and the Queen is the head of state. Is also not in the
European Union although it is as far as customs is concerned. So it is a safe
place to establish your business.
Moreover the government of the island
saw the early potential of online gambling in the late 1990s and established
one of the first eGaming regulatory bodies in the world, an extension of the
Gambling Supervision Commission which started in 1962. This in tern has led to
the development of of an eGaming development team sponsored by the government
to help with and support licence applications on the island. They can even give
grants to those who wish to move to the island and therefore create
jobs.
The local economy is good too. It has had growth every year for
the last 30 years which has seen it through rough down times in other countries
around the world.
Most of all though is the
support offered to businesses who want to start-up there or relocate there as
there is an extensive network of local service providers including advanced
telecommunications infrastructure and large data centres offering gaming
specific expertise and knowledge of how to protect against DOS
attacks.
Of course it is also has financially attractive tax laws.
Betting duty is capped at 1.5% of gross profit and there is no capital gains
tax, so if you sell up at a big profit it is all yours. Employees will never
see income tax above 20% and there are high personal tax allowances, so its
attractive for people to move and work there. The government will make special
efforts to get visas for those working in the eGaming world so that getting the
staff you want is not a problem.
Lastly and by no means least is the
banking sector in the Isle of Man. It has a long established financial centre
with top credit rating from the big credit reference agencies. They are well
practised is segregating funds so that customer money is automatically
separated from company money giving all of us players more
confidence.
So if you see an operator that is based in the Isle of Man
you can be assured that it is as safe as anywhere in the world and probably
safer.
Find licensees at the UK Gambling Commission
Isle of Man eGaming licence holders
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