Chaos And Turmoil For Online Casinos?
Added: July 4, 2016
Or will this be just another case of business as usual? Unless you have hiding under a rock avoiding the media for the last couple of weeks you cannot help but know the world is abuzz about the implications of the recent Brexit vote. It would seem that the citizens of the U.K. made it loud and clear that they are in at least sick and tired of business as usual. The other side of the Brexit vote is that those that were supposed to know and boldly proclaimed that the U.K. would actually stay in the E.U. were, for the most part, stunned by the actual vote.
Which brings up the question of the day. How much, if any effect will the decision by the U.K. to exit the EU have on the worldwide online casino industry? Understand this is a bigger question than you might have thought.
Consider the fact that the U.K. serves as headquarters for no less than six distinct jurisdictions, each of them regulating the online gambling industry. For example, there is the UKGC, There is Gilbratar and of course there is the Isle of Man. As you might well already know, these UK jurisdictions are home to some of the largest online casino operators around the world.
The most immediate question that is asked is whether or not these online casino operators will choose to stay put or whether they will make the studied decision to pull up stakes and move elsewhere.
Here is a fact that may completely upend the online casino as it exists today. Are you aware of an existing EU law that mandates that any legal online casino choosing to serve EU member states must be members of either the European Union or the European Economic Area?
Since the Brexit vote only just recently passed, the next most obvious question is if in fact the U.K. will be able to maintain membership in the European Union Economic Area. If so, then it could be more of a case of business as usual.
On the other hand, if the end of the result the Brexit vote is that the U.K. must severe all ties to the EU and cannot hold on to even a cursory membership in the European Union Economic Area, then all bets are off so to speak.
Naturally, you understand that it is way too early in the game to make any sort of prediction as to how this will play out. At the same time, you can certainly expect to see quite of media attention on this story going forward.