Antigua, Curacao Confident Regarding UK Gambling Ad LawThe tiny nations of Antigua and Curacao, long players in the online gambling sector, feel confident that they will be granted "white list" status by the United Kingdom government. In being issued this status, online gambling firms located within both countries would be permitted to advertise in the UK.
The United Kingdom Gambling Commission has released its list of foreign remote gambling jurisdictions approved to be "whitelisted" by the Gambling Commission for the purpose of advertising gambling services within the United Kingdom from 1 September 2007. The new legislation is designed to protect Britons from "unscrupulous" online gambling enterprises. BetFred.com, a British-facing bookmaker that has been able to compete with the likes of behemoths William Hill and Ladbrokes, could be blocked from advertising in Great Britain due to the fact that they are located in Curacao (part of the Netherlands Antilles).
Only two jurisdictions have been initially recommended for approval namely the jurisdiction of Alderney and the Isle of Man. Applications from Antigua and Barbuda and Kahnawake are still receiving consideration.
The Curacao government issued a statement over the weekend.
The Government of the Netherlands Antilles has taken notice of the letter containing the decision of the UK Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, to not accept the recently made application to be “white listed” prior to the UK Gambling Act 2005 coming into effect on September 1st, a released statement said.
"This new legislation and its accompanying regulations has been accepted by the Council of Ministers and is now progressing through parliament in line with the timeline communicated to the UK DCMS, being December 2007. In preparing this legislation the Government of the Netherlands Antilles has worked closely with the CIGA, the industry trade association of the Netherlands Antilles and is confident that the approval of both the UK DCMS and CIGA suggests that this is a well balanced piece of legislation that will meet the needs and standards of all stakeholders in what is an important regulatory issue, both locally and internationally.
"Given the correspondence with the DCMS to date, and our own advisers, we are confident that the passing and implementation of the new legislation will allow us to be rapidly and rightly placed on the 'white list' of jurisdictions in the UK."
Minister of Finance and the Economy for Antigua, Dr Errol Cort remains confident that his island nation's application to the UK's "Whitelisting" will receive approval in due course, given that Antigua and Barbuda's regulatory and licencing objectives are parallel to the United Kingdom's intended remote gaming regulatory regime, which promotes the prevention of underage gaming, protection of the vulnerable, fairness in all games and the combating of illicit activities and financial crimes.
Director of Gaming Kaye McDonald underscores the Minister of Finance's sentiments with respect to the jurisdiction's regulatory and licencing framework and furthermore believes that the application process provides an opportunity for governments and regulators to work collectively to continuously improve the regulatory environment associated with remote gaming.
Cort observed that the UK's "whitelisting" is an on-going process and stated that the Government looks forward to working with the United Kingdom with respect to the jurisdiction's application and also with other proactive governments across the globe to further develop international standards in recognition of this most important industry.
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Christopher Costigan, Gambling911.com
Originally published August 13, 2007 10:39 am ET
