Isle Of Man Announces Online Gaming Licence Winners

by Amanda Banks, Tax-News.com, London

21 September 2001

Minister for Home Affairs of the Isle of Man, Alan Bell, has revealed the names of the first three companies to be granted Internet gambling licences on the Island. At a news conference held yesterday afternoon, Mr Bell told reporters that only major firms which have a reliable track record and were able to satisfy detailed security screening reached the short list.

The three licence winners are: UK betting and gaming company, Littlewoods Leisure; MGM MIRAGE, one of the world's largest hotels and casino groups including the Golden Nugget Casino, the Mirage and the MGM Grand in Las Vegas; and SunOnline Ltd., a division of Sun International Hotels Ltd, one of the world's leading resort and casino operators with properties including the flagship Atlantis resort on Paradise Island in The Bahamas.

Colin McGill, Managing Director of Sportech plc, the holding company for Littlewoods Leisure, said: 'This is very good news for Sportech and another major step forward in our E-gaming strategy. The Isle of Man jurisdiction has an unrivalled global reputation for probity and security, meaning that we can offer our customers the levels of assurance they have come to expect from the Littlewoods name.'

Terry Lanni, Chairman and CEO of MGM MIRAGE, has also made it clear that his company intends to provide a sound service for customers. He said: 'We look forward to wroking closely with the Isle of Man government and domestic regulatory authorities to develop a safe, secure and enjoyable Internet gaming system which provides assurances that Internet wagers are only accepted from jurisdictions in which such activity is legal, that underage gaming is prevented, and that access to problem gamblers is limited.'

Tobin Prior, CEO, SunOnline Ltd. said his company was keen to make its professional high-quality mark: 'This is a great opportunity to extend our powerful brands and gaming expertise into the online gaming world. We have set out to achieve a meaningful position in legitimate online gambling and the licences issued in the Isle of Man today and the regulatory environment which will prevail now make this a practical possibility.'

To protect customers, an official statistician will check that the odds match the outcome once the gaming operations begin, they will also have the additional protection of a £2 million bond set aside by each company to guarantee the payouts to winners.

Mr Bell commented: 'The world wide web has opened up global opportunities undreamt of a few years ago. It abolishes borders, creates global distribution channels - and means that a jurisdiction like the Isle of Man, with a population of 75,000 can be the centre of a world business. We intend to be a central player in what is likely to be a fast-growing global gaming business, based on the internet. The quality of partners we have selected makes this ambitious goal entirely attainable. But great opportunity also brings great responsibility.'

He added: 'The Isle of Man has won five major awards in a year as the world's foremost international finance centre because we are careful to combine a fair and competitive tax regime with very tough regulations. We have extended this winning combination into the brave new world of international online gaming to give encouragement to businesses and confidence to customers and to our international regulatory partners.'

As well as these first three licences, Mr. Bell is to seek approval of Tynwald, the Isle of Man Parliament, in October for a further nine licences for issue when suitable applicants are identified. The request for additional licences is partly due to the quality of some of the other applicants and the interest expressed by other large companies in obtaining licences. If Parliamentary approval is secured, consideration will be given to granting some of the extra licences in early November, 2001.

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