UK Seeks to Regulate Offshore Online Gambling

The UK Government has recently put in new regulations concerning online gambling. The main purpose of the bill is to require all gambling operators that offer their services to British clienteles to get a license in the country, regardless of whether or not they are based offshore.

John Penrose a Conservative Member of Parliament who also holds the position for Minister for Tourism and Heritage made the announcement a few days ago. He mentions however, that "white listed" jurisdictions offshore, such as the Isle of Man, will receive a lighter treatment.

Furthermore, the regulations will not be duplicated, which means that the main supervisory body for operators based in the Isle of Man would, or anywhere else for that matter, still be their respective regulatory bodies.

It is expected that once the new legislation is carried out, the white listing classification would then be brought to an end. Furthermore, all gambling operators operating outside of the UK will no longer be able to offer any games to the UK market at all if they do not have the proper licenses.

While the recent issues on money laundering charges against some online gambling companies in the US have been considered while the bill was proposed, it is not the main problem the bill seeks to address. The bill’s goal is to eliminate white listing and instead impose similar regulations on all offshore online casinos that seek to operate within the country. The Isle of Man is perhaps the most affected by the bill considering the previous status of their online casinos which were white listed.

Currently, the Isle of Man yields a profit of more than £4 million to the Man Government, generated by online gambling. After the changes would take place, it has been foreseen that the revenues would decrease significantly.

March 26, 2025 |

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