Figures for the first four months of 2017 suggest that the jurisdiction could already be benefiting from operators getting cold feet about a post-Brexit Gibraltar. Between January and April, Malta saw licence applications grow by 79 %, as well as a 33 % rise in licences issued compared to the previous year.
Britain voted to leave the EU on 23 June 2016, meaning that the corresponding period in 2016 (January to April) preceded the decision. The result of the referendum was put into action in March this year, when British Prime Minister Theresa May triggered Article 50, starting the formal process of exiting the European Union.
But while the latest licensing
figures indicate that Gibraltar’s loss will largely be Malta’s gain, the
country gaming authority’s CEO and chairman, Joseph Cuschieri, believes that
its rise in applications is also a testament to the work being done by the MGA
to build an attractive regulatory regime.
"These figures show that the integrity of Malta’s
jurisdiction coupled with the MGA’s regulatory ethos is key in the
attractiveness of Malta as a global place of establishment for remote gaming
operators,” Cuschieri commented.
