Following rumors
that the Mansion online gambling group would be leaving
the gaming-friendly jurisdiction of Gibraltar to
relocate business operations elsewhere, reports on the
contrary have surfaced. The Gibraltar publication,
"Panorama", has reported that aside from a few staff
cutbacks, Mansion isn't going anywhere (Singapore and
Israel, to be exact).
This is good news
for Gibraltar, considering that Mansion employs some 150
people in the British territory. And let's be honest -
it's good news for Mansion. Gibraltar has one of the
strictest and most respected online gambling regulation
regimes in the world (UK casino
32Red is regulated here). On the UK Gambling
Commission's whitelist for approved licensing
jurisdictions, Gibraltar offers a level of credibility
that operators simply can't get some places elsewhere.
As mentioned, the
rumors abounding were that Mansion was thinking of
moving shop to Singapore and Israel. The prospects of
Singapore certainly seemed reasonable, considering that
Mansion's online casino and internet betting operations
largely cater to the Asian community. Furthermore, a low
tax rate of 8% in Singapore would be tempting for any
online casino operator.
However, the rumors
that Mansion could also be operating out of Israel have
been a little less digestible to say the least. Israel
has been quite antagonistic toward online gambling
operators (Bwin is a recent example), and despite having
some excellent technological innovation in the online
gambling field (many software companies have close ties
to Israel), Israel would hardly be ideal for an online
gambling operator of Mansion's status.
Perhaps the
confusion lied in the fact that Mansion is to be making
cutbacks within their IT operations? Indeed, it seems
more reasonable that Mansion would be looking to Israel
for some IT help. Furthermore, Mansion says they will be
expanding their marketing and sales staff, which Israel
could also help out with. The good news for Gibraltar,
which has incurred some heavy cutbacks at the helm of
888 and Party Gaming, is that Mansion can still branch
out while staying put where online gambling regulation
is at its best.
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