Published: 24.03.2019, 19:38
2 min read
Online gambling accounts for roughly 40% of the £15 billion UK gambling market. On top of that, more and more online casinos and bookmakers are accessible by people from other countries, including the EU. Therefore, Britain leaving the EU can have a major impact on the industry both in the UK and around the world.
Regulation Issues after Brexit
The first issue that Brexit could impose is connected with regulation and legislation. Two UK territories currently house numerous online gambling companies, those being Isle of Main and Gibraltar.
The reason for a lot of companies to be found there is not the regionality, but taxes and legislation. Founding and registering a company in either of these places used to open the door to both UK and EU gambling markets. However, with the uncertainty of Brexit, it is unclear whether the companies in those territories would be able to function the same way as they used to.
They will probably have no issues serving the UK market, however, as they would still need the same UK licenses as before.
Employment
Gibraltar is a part of the UK but is an enclave surrounded by Spain. Considering that around 30 gambling companies there employ a lot of Spaniards that come in and out of Gibraltar to work for these companies, potential border control can disrupt their operations significantly.
Additionally, there are a significant amount of people employed in the UK online gambling sector that are either from outside the UK or are located elsewhere in the world, providing outbound services. Even though it is hard to pinpoint how much non-UK citizens are employed in the UK, potential no-deal Brexit can still cause problems.
