Located in the southernmost part of Europe, since 1998 Gibraltar has been giving licenses to online gaming websites like sportsbooks, online casinos and 'betting exchange';in this case, there is a series of websites working, through specific applications, to keep in contact individual gamblers and let them interact.

All gaming operations in Gibraltar require a license in compliance with the 2005 Decree for gambling.

The decree grants the Commissioner the power to ensure that those who have obtained licenses comply with the conditions imposed by the decree. In this way they want to preserve the good reputation of Gibraltar.

Gibraltar primarily supplies licenses to operators with proven experience and requires a test on the software as an important part of the process.

There are no fees to start the license process, but an annual tax of £ 2000.

The tax rate for fixed odds betting and betting exchange operations is 1% of total turnover with a maximum of 425,000 pounds a year.

For online casino gambling tax is 1% of total turnover with the same maximum as fixed odds betting.

Below we will see some of the most important conditions and requirements to get a license for online casinos and fixed odds betting.

Advertising Guidelines

The licensee has to ensure that all advertising, gambling promotion and sponsorship of any kind by any means (including Internet), are truthful and accurate.

Advertising must be directed to an adult audience and by no means to minors. The licensee shall ensure that the websites used to advertise and promote and/or manage the gambling business contain no links to violent or immoral contents or are not designed to permit the access to underage customers.

Licenses are issued on condition that the promotion and advertising of gambling games are directed only to citizens of nations where gambling is legal. Furthermore, the licensee will not provide gambling activities to people living in states where the supply of such games is invalid under applicable laws.

Prizes Payment

The licensees must always have financial liquidity to meet current and future payment of all obligations for prizes and must guarantee the existence of a financial capital to ensure the ongoing operations' costs.

The licensee has to pay the prizes and payments to players registered on the basis of clear condtions established and signed with the customer.

Customer privacy and data protection

According to the Authority for Licenses, licensees must be able to obtain at least the following basic personal information about their potential customers:

• full name
• date and place of birth
• address and residence

After obtaining the required information and completing each task, the licensee is entitled to deal with the registered customer as a player.

Taxes on gambling

For fixed odds bettings, the tax imposed in April 2005 is 1% of turnover up to £ 42,500,000 in annual revenue, with a minimum threshold of 425,000 pounds a year and a minimum annual fee of 85,000 pounds.

Betting exchange websites are currently taxed at the same level of fixed odds betting.

For online casino gambling the tax is set at 1% of the game yield or gross profit.

The minimum and maximum thresholds are equal to the one established for fixed odds betting

Accounts and Audit

The bank accounts used by customers to receive and deposit funds, place bets or other, will be controlled by the company.

Any credit card transaction made during activities will be fully and effectively controlled by the company.

No bank account or credit card, receipt, transaction, custody and authorizations of the client's funds and its credit card data transactions will be kept by the licensee, except in the exclusive jurisdiction of Gibraltar, or in an authorized institution unless it hadn’t been approved by the Authority for the licenses.

Each year, throughout the period in which the license is active, the licensee is required to submit audits to the Authority for the licensing and maintain his accounting records as required by any other applicable current law.

The licensee is also required to satisfy all its accounts and filing requirements as established in the Act of Incorporation, Act of deposits and Act of consolidated deposits as well as any other applicable law.

Effective Controls

The licensee may be always subject to the control of the state of Gibraltar. In this case, the licensee shall, upon request of the Authority for authorizations, provide a list of relevant staff (through curricula or other appropriate material), including shareholders, directors and managers involved in the management of his business in Gibraltar.

In this way the licensee agrees that his entire business control will be exercised in Gibraltar, so that, without restricting the general terms of the foregoing, the bank accounts in which betting and money convey are monitored and controlled by the licensee himself. Transactions made with credit cards and commercial accounts used during activities will be fully and effectively controlled by the licensee.

The licensee agrees that no bank account and credit card or receipt, processing, detention and the authorization of clients' funds and transactions by credit card will be transferred outside the jurisdiction of Gibraltar or in any other institution without prior permission of the Authority for the licenses.

Anti-money laundering requirements of illicit origin

The licensee must fully comply with all obligations, respecting any transactions that could arouse suspicion on money laundering.

The licensee should state clearly that he understood his duties in this regard according to the Criminal Justice’s Statute of Gibraltar (or any other modification or replacement of its provisions related to money laundering) any other statute that provides rules on money laundering, as applicable to licensee, and anti-money laundering directives regularly issued by the Commissioner for gambling in Gibraltar.