Isle of Man: A year in the life of the manx egaming sector

The Isle of Man is one of the most reputable jurisdictions in the global egaming sector, so it is no surprise that 2008 has been a watershed year, with substantial organic growth of existing businesses and the introduction of several new high-profile businesses to its shores

Growth of the egaming industry on the Isle of Man was a primary objective over the last year. Head of egaming development for the Isle of Man Government, Garth Kimber, said: "We have worked to achieve greater diversity in terms of the types of businesses we are attracting to the island and created a business environment to help them to flourish."

In doing so, the island’s egaming development team has demonstrated to larger players in the industry that the Isle of Man is serious about being one of the world’s leading centres for well-regulated egaming business.

Kimber said: "A major part of the sector’s growth on the island in 2008 has derived from the willingness of these major industry players to look seriously at the Isle of Man as a jurisdiction."

After a busy start to the year with the January egaming shows, the following few months saw the Isle of Man’s egaming development team follow up new business leads; answering questions, arranging visits to the island and supporting companies through the decision-making process. This activity led to a significant number of companies applying for licences.

A review of the current regulations and Online Gambling Act was also necessary to determine the compatibility of these business applicants and where elements of the act required adaptation. Kimber said: "The review ensured that the regulatory environment was compatible for a variety of egaming platforms, from online payment services to software and web design companies, to sports betting service providers. The recent granting of licences to Fasbet and NYX Interactive is testimony to just how far the island has come in this respect in the last year. "

The second quarter of the year was seen as a challenging period for the Isle of Man’s egaming sector. "The protection of players’ funds had to be reviewed, which resulted in the strengthening of the method to ensure the players would be fully protected in all eventualities, right through to any liquidation of a company. Achieving this in a manner that was not costly to businesses but gave both the jurisdiction and the companies the benefit of being able to give players total protection was imperative," said Kimber.

In June, the Isle of Man announced the appointment of Steve Brennan as the new director of regulation. With a strengthened team and a host of improvements to procedures and working methods, a system was developed that allowed the island to confidently state that complete applications would result in a company appearing before the commission for a licence only 10 weeks after the submission.

The autumn period saw many applications converting to the successful granting of licences and also increased interest from businesses operating in new and varied sectors within egaming.

Businesses already based on the shores were expanding and the clustering of parts of the industry that did not require licences continued to grow at a fast rate.

2008 produced, among others, the first network gaming company to operate from the Isle of Man, the first betting exchange, a major Asian sports book, pool betting and an online pools company.

Other parts of the sector have also chosen the island as the place they want to do business, with companies such as software providers, affiliate companies and payment providers all setting up during the course of the year. A number of other companies are now also basing their disaster recovery facilities in the jurisdiction where both the regulations and the IT and telecoms infrastructure are among the best in the world.

Kimber said: "Even in the present and unprecedented financial environment, the jurisdiction has applications from a number of large companies and others starting the process as we approach the close of the year.

"The changes that have been implemented, the adaptability of the government and consequently the type of business the island is now attracting is demonstrative of the Isle of Man’s openness and willingness to welcome quality business from all facets of the egaming industry."